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HOURS    OF    EXERCISE. 


7922 


>*fi 


HOURS  OF  EXERCISE 


THE  ALPS. 


BY 


JOHN   TYNDALL,  LL.D.,  F.R.fe.', "    ^^v 

AUTHOE  OF  "  FBAGMENTS    OF    SCIENCE    FOE    UNSCIENTIFIC    PEOl'l  E,".  "  UrAj: , 
AS   A  MODE  OF  MOTION,"  ETC.,  ETC.  , 


NEW    YORK:  ^»    - 

D.    APPLETON    AND    GOUPAK.t^ 
1,    3,   AND   5   BOND    STKEET. 
188  3. 


^3G 


'.*•. 


PREFACE. 


A  SHORT  TIME  AGO  I  published  a  book  of  'Frag- 
ments,' which  might  have  been  called  'Hours  of 
Exercise  in  the  Attic  and  the  Laboratory ' ;  while 
this  one  bears  the  title  of  'Hours  of  Exercise  in 
the  Alps.'  The  two  volumes  supplement  each  other, 
and,  taken  together,  illustrate  the  mode  in  which 
a  lover  of  natural  knowledge  and  of  natural  scenery 
chooses  to  spend  his  life. 

Much  as  I  enjoy  the  work,  I  do  not  think  that  I 
could  have  filled  my  days  and  hours  in  the  Alps  with 
clambering  alone.  The  climbing  in  many  cases  was 
the  peg  on  which  a  thousand  other  '  exercises '  were 
hung.  The  present  volume,  however,  is  for  the 
most  part  a  record  of  bodily  action,  written  partly  to 
preserve  to  myself  the  memory  of  strong  and  joyous 
hours,  and  partly  for  the  pleasure  of  those  who  find 
exhilaration  in  descriptions  associated  witli  moim- 
tain  life. 


VI  PREFACE. 

The  papers,  written  during  the  last  ten  years,  are 
printed  in  the  order  of  the  incidents  to  which  they 
relate  ;  and,  to  render  the  history  more  complete, 
I  have,  with  the  permission  of  their  authors,  intro- 
duced nearly  the  whole  of  two  articles  by  Mr. 
Vaughan  Hawkins  and  JNIr.  Philip  Gossett.  The 
former  describes  the  first  assault  ever  made  upon  the 
Matterhorn,  the  latter  an  expedition  which  ended  in 
the  death  of  a  renowned  and  beloved  guide. 

The  '  Glaciers  of  the  Alps '  being  out  of  print, 
I  can  no  longer  refer  to  it.  Towards  the  end  of  the 
volume,  therefore,  I  have  thrown  together  a  few 
'  Notes  and  Comments '  which  may  be  useful  to 
those  who  desire  to  possess  some  knowledge  of  the 
phenomena  of  the  ice-world,  and  of  the  properties 
of  ice  itself.  To  these  are  added  one  or  two  minor 
articles,  which  relate  more  or  less  to  our  British 
hills  and  lakes :  the  volume  is  closed  by  an  account 
of  a  recent  voyage  to  Oran. 

I  refrain  from  giving  advice,  further  than  to  say 
that  the  perils  of  wandering  in  the  High  Alps  are 
terribly  real,  and  are  only  to  be  met  by  knowledge, 
caution,  skill,  and  strength.  '  For  rashness,  igno- 
rance, or  carelessness  the  mountains  leave  no  margin  ; 
and  to  rashness,  ignorance,  or  carelessness  three- 
fourths    of    the    catastrophes   which    shock    us   arc 


PEEFACE.  Vii 

to  be  traced.'  Those  who  wish  to  know  something 
of  the  precautions  to  be  taken  upon  the  peaks 
and  glaciers  cannot  do  better  than  consult  the 
excellent  little  volume  lately  published  by  Leslie 
Stephen,  where,  under  the  head  of  '  Dangers  of 
Mountaineering,'  this  question  is  discussed. 

I  would  willingly  have  published  this  volume 
without  illustrations,  and  should  the  reader  like 
those  here  introduced — two  of  which  were  published 
ten  years  ago,  and  the  remainder  recently  executed 
under  the  able  superintendence  of  Mr.  Whymper — 
he  will  have  to  ascribe  his  gratification  to  the 
initiative  of  Mr.  William  Longman,  not  to  me. 

I  have  sometimes  tried  to  trace  the  genesis  of  the 
interest  which  I  take  in  fine  scenery.  It  cannot  be 
wholly  due  to  my  own  early  associations ;  for  as  a 
boy  I  loved  nature,  and  hence,  to  account  for  that 
love,  I  must  fall  back  upon  something  earlier 
than  my  own  birth.  The  forgotten  associations 
of  a  far-gone  ancestry  are  probably  the  most  potent 
elements  in  the  feeling.  With  characteristic  pene- 
tration, Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  has  written  of  the 
growth  of  our  appreciation  of  natural  scenery  with 
growing  years.  But  to  the  associations  of  the  indi- 
vidual himself  he  adds  '  certain  deeper,  but  now 
vague,  combinations  of  states,  that  were  organised 


Vm  PREFACE. 

in  the  race  during  barbarous  times,  when  its 
pleasurable  activities  were  among  the  mountains, 
woods,  and  waters.  Out  of  these  excitations,'  he 
adds,  '  some  of  them  actual,  but  most  of  them 
nascent,  is  composed  the  emotion  which  a  finu 
landscape  produces  in  us.'  I  think  this  an  exceed- 
ingly likely  proximate  hypothesis,  and  hence  infer 
that  those  '  vague  and  deep  combinations  organised 
in  barbarous  times,'  not  to  go  further  back,  have 
come  down  with  considerable  force  to  me.  Adding 
to  these  inherited  feelings  the  pleasurable  present 
exercise  of  Mr.  Bain's  '  muscular  sense,'  I  obtain 
a  somewhat  intelligible,  though,  doubtless,  still 
secondary  theory  of  my  delight  in  the  mountains. 

The  name  of  a  friend  whom  I  taught  in  his  boy- 
hood to  handle  a  theodolite  and  lay  a  chain,  and 
who  afterwards  turned  his  knowledge  to  account  on 
the  glaciers  of  the  Alps,  occurs  frequently  in  the 
following  pages.  Of  the  firmness  of  a  friendship, 
irainterrupted  for  an  hour,  and  only  strengthened 
by  tlie  weathering  of  six-and-twenty  years,  he 
needs  no  assurance.  Still,  for  the  pleasure  it  gives 
myself,  I  connect  this  volume  with  the  name  of 
Thomas  Arciieu  Hirst. 

j.  tvndall. 

May  1371. 


CONTENTS. 


tH4iTi;n  PAOK 

I.     The  Lauwinex-Thor  ....         1 

II.     Disaster  on  the  Coi.  uu  Geant     .  .  .18 

III.  The    Mattkrhorx— First    Assault,   with    J.   J. 

Bexnkx  as  Guide         .  .  ,  .27 

IV.  TllERMOMETRIC    StATIOXS    OX    MoXT    El.ANC  .  .         53 

V.     A  Letter  from  Baxe  .  .  .  .59 

Note  ox  the  Sound  of  Agitated  Water  .       65 

VI.     The  Ukbacuthal  and  Gaui.i  Glacier       .  .       60 

VII.     The  Guimsel  and  the  .iI^>,GiscHH()Rx         .  .       75 

Note  on  Clouds       .  .  .  .  .82 

VIII.     The  Eel  Alp  ....'.       80 

IX.     The  Weisshorn        .  .  .  .  .91 

X.     Inspection  of  the  Mattf.rhorn  ■with  Bennen    .     114 

XI.      0.1  R   THE  MORO         .....      125 

XII.     Thk  Old  Weissthor  .  .  .  .130 

XIII.  Rescue  fro.m  a  Crevasse    .  .  .  .111 

XIV.  The    Matterhorn — Second    Assault,  in  Company 

AViTH  Bennen     .             .  .             .             .153 

XV.     From  Stein  to  the  Grimsel  .             .             .     166 

XVI.     The  Oberaakjoch. — Adventure  at  the  ^^ggiscii- 

llORN       .              .              .  .              .              .17-1 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PACK 

XVII.  Ascent  of  the  Junofeaxj    .            .            .            .180 

XVIII.  Death  of  Bennen  on  the  IIaut  be  Cuy  .            .192 

XIX.  Accident  on  the  Piz  Moeteeatscti           .            .     20G 

XX.  Alpixk  Sculptxjhb    .            .            .            .            .219 

XXl.  Seauch  on  the  Matteehoen  :    a  Project             .     252 

XXII.  The  TiTLIS,  FiNSTERAAESCHLrCHT,  PeTERSGRAT,  ANT) 

Italian  Lakes  .....     255 

XXIII.  Ascent  of  the  Eiger  and  Passage  of  the  Trift    265 

XXIV.  The  Matteehoen— Third  and  Last  Assault      .     271 

XXV.  Ascent  of  the  Aletschhoen          .            .            .     295 

XXVI.  A  Day  among  the  Seracs  of  the   Glacier  pu 

Geant  Fourteen  Years  Ago  .  ,  .318 


HOTES   ON  ICE  AND    GLACIERS,   ETC. 

I.  Observations  on  the  Mer  de  Glace 

II.  Structure  and  Properties  of  Ick 

III.  STRUCTUntE   OF    G  LACIERS 

IV.  IIelmiioltz  on  Ice  and  Glaciers 

V,  Clouds 

VI.  KiLLARNKY      . 

VII.  Sno\\dox  in  Winter  . 

VIIL  VOYA(iE    TO    AniEUIA    TO    OnSEHYE   THE   ECLIPSE 


839 
360 
367 

377 
405 
413 
421 
429 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


The  JuNfiFBATJ  FROM  Interlaken          ,            .  Frontispkct 

Ascent  of  the  Laxtwinen-Thor             .             ,  to  face -page  11 

The  Weisshorx  from  the  Riffex         ,             .  ,,91 

The  Matterhorn  (from  a  drawing  by  E.  W.  Cooke,  R.  A.) ,,         117 

Recovery  of  our  Porter           ,             .             .  ,,149 

JoHANN  Joseph  Bennen              .            .            .  „        201 

Ihk    Gorge  of    Pfeffers    (showing   Erositb 

Action)         .            .            .            .            .  „        2!f) 


Nature,  thou  earliest  gospel  of  the  wise, 

Thou  never-silent  hymner  unto  God; 
Thou  angel-hidder  lost  amidst  the  skies, 

Though  at  the  foot  we  dream  upon  the  »od  '■ 
To  thee  the  priesthood  of  the  lyre  belong  — 
They  hear  religion  and  reply  in  song. 

'If  ho  hath  held  thy  worship  undofiled 

Thit)ugh  all  the  sins  and  sorrows  of  his  youth, 
Let  the  man  echo  what  he  heard  as  child 

Prom  the  far  hill-tops  of  melodious  Truth, 
Leaving  in  troubled  hearts  some  lingering  tone 
Sweet  with  the  solace  thou  hast  given  his  own, 

liORD  Lytton's  King  Arthur 


'  The  brain. 
That  forages  all  climes  to  hue  its  cells, 
Will  not  distil  the  juices  it  has  sucked 
To  the  sweet  substance  of  pellucid  thought, 
Except  for  him  who  hath  the  secret  learned 
To  mix  his  blood  with  sunshine,  and  to  take 
The  winds  into  his  pulses.' 

Jaues  Ecssell  Loweu. 


HOIJBS     OF     EXEECISE 

IN 

THE    ALPS. 
I. 

THE     LAUWINEN-THOR. 

In  June  1860  I  completed  '  The  Grlaciers  of  the  Alps,' 
which  constituted  but  a  fraction  of  the  work  exe- 
cuted during  the  previous  autumn  and  spring. 
These  labours  and  other  matters  had  wearied  and 
weakened  me  beyond  measure,  and  to  gain  a  little 
strength  I  went  to  Killarney.  The  trip  was  bene- 
ficial, but  not  of  permanent  benefit.  The  air  of 
those  most  lovely  lakes  was  too  moist  and  warm  for 
my  temperament,  and  I  longed  for  that  keener  air 
which  derives  its  tone  from  contact  with  the  Alpine 
snows.  In  1859  I  had  bidden  the  Alps  farewell, 
purposing  in  future  to  steep  my  thoughts  in  the 
tranquillity  of  English  valleys,  and  confine  my 
mountain  work  to  occasional  excursions  in  the 
Scotch  Highlands,  or  amid  the  Welsh  and  Cumbrian 
hills.     But  in  my  weariness  the  mere  thought  of 


2  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1860 

the  snow-peaks  and  glaciers  was  an  exhilaration  ; 
and  to  the  Alps,  therefore,  I  resolved  once  more  to 
go.  I  wrote  to  my  former  guide,  Christian  Lauener, 
desiring  him  to  meet  me  at  Thun  on  Saturday  the 
4th  of  August ;  and  on  my  way  thither  I  fortunately 
fell  in  -svith  Mr.  Vaughan  Hawkins.  He  told  me  of 
his  plans  and  wishes,  which  embraced  an  attack  upon 
the  Matterhorn.  Infected  by  his  ardour,  I  gladly 
closed  with  the  proposition  that  we  should  climb 
together  for  a  time. 

Lauener  was  not  to  be  found  at  Thun,  but  in 
driving  from  Neuhaus  to  Interlaken  a  chaise  met  us, 
and  swiftly  passed ;  within  it  I  could  discern  the 
bro\vn  visage  of  my  guide.  We  pulled  up  and  shout- 
ed, the  other  vehicle  stopped,  Lauener  leaped  from 
it,  and  came  bounding  towards  me  with  admirable 
energy,  through  the  deep  and  splashing  mud.  '  Gott  I 
wie  der  Kerl  springt  I '  was  the  admiring  exclamation 
of  my  coachman.  Lauener  is  more  than  six  feet 
high,  and  mainly  a  mass  of  bone  ;  his  legs  are  out  of 
proportion,  longer  than  his  trunk ;  and  he  wears  a 
short-tail  coat,  which  augments  the  apparent  dis- 
crepancy. Those  massive  levers  were  now  plied  with 
extraordinary  vigour  to  project  his  body  through 
space ;  and  it  was  gratifying  to  bo  thus  assured  that 
the  man  was  in  first-rate  condition,  and  fully  up  to 
the  hardest  work. 

On  Sunday  the  5th  of  August,  for  the  sake  of  a 


I860]  THE    LAUWINEN-TIIOR.  3 

little  training,  I  ascended  the  Faulhorn  alone.  The 
morning  was  splendid,  but  as  the  day  advanced 
heavy  cloud-wreaths  swathed  the  heights.  They 
attained  a  maximum  about  two  p.m.,  and  afterwards 
the  overladen  air  cleared  itself  by  intermittent  jerks 
— revealing  at  times  the  blue  of  heaven  and  the 
peaks  of  the  mountains  ;  then  closing  up  again,  and 
hiding  in  their  dismal  folds  the  very  posts  which  stood 
at  a  distance  of  ten  paces  from  the  hotel  door.  The 
eflfects  soon  became  exceedingly  striking,  the  muta- 
tions were  so  quick  and  so  forcibly  antithetical.  I 
lay  down  upon  a  seat,  and  watched  the  intermittent 
extinction  and  generation  of  the  clouds,  and  the  al- 
ternate appearance  and  disappearance  of  the  moun- 
tains. More  and  more  the  sun  swept  off  the  swelter- 
ing haze,  and  the  blue  sky  bent  over  me  in  domes  of 
ampler  span.  At  four  p.m.  no  trace  of  cloud  was 
visible,  and  a  panorama  of  the  Oberland,  such  I  had 
no  idea  that  the  Faulhorn  could  command,  unfolded 
itself.  There  was  the  grand  barrier  which  separated 
us  from  the  Valais  ;  there  were  the  Jungfrau,  Monk 
and  Eiger,  the  Finsteraarhom,  the  Schreckhorn,  and 
the  Wetterhorn,  lifting  their  snowy  and  cloudless 
crests  to  heaven,  and  all  so  sharp  and  wildly  precipi- 
tous that  the  bare  thought  of  standing  on  any  one  of 
them  made  me  shudder.  London  was  still  in  my 
brain,  and  the  vice  of  Primrose  Hill  in  my  muscles. 
I  disliked  the  ascent  of  the  Faulhorn  exceedingly, 


4  HOUKS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1860 

and  the  monotonous  pony  track  which  led  to  the 
top  of  it.  Once,  indeed,  I  deviated  from  the  road 
out  of  pure  disgust,  and,  taking  a  jumping  torrent 
for  my  guide  and  colloquist,  was  led  astray.  I  now 
resolved  to  return  to  Grindelwald  by  another  route. 
My  host  at  first  threw  cold  water  on  the  notion, 
but  he  afterwards  relaxed  and  admitted  that  the 
village  might  be  attained  by  a  more  direct  way  than 
the  ordinary  one.  He  pointed  to  some  rocks,  emi- 
nences, and  trees,  which  were  to  serve  as  landmarks  ; 
and  stretching  his  arm  in  the  direction  of  Grindel- 
wald, I  took  the  bearing  of  the  place,  and  scampered 
over  slopes  of  snow  to  the  sunny  Alp  beyond  them. 
To  my  left  was  a  mountain  stream  making  soft 
music  by  the  explosion  of  its  bubbles.  I  was  once 
tempted  aside  to  climb  a  rounded  eminence,  where 
I  lay  for  an  hour  watching  the  augmenting  glory 
of  the  mountains.  The  scene  at  hand  was  perfectly 
pastoral  ;  green  pastures,  dotted  with  chalets,  and 
covered  with  cows,  which  filled  the  air  with  the 
incessant  tinkle  of  their  bells.  Beyond  was  the 
majestic  architecture  of  the  Alps,  with  its  capitals 
and  western  bastions  flushed  with  the  warm  light  of 
the  lowering  sun. 

I  mightily  enjoyed  the  hour.  There  was  health 
in  the  air  and  hope  in  tlie  mountains,  and  with 
the  consciousness  of  augmenting  vigoiir  I  quitted 
my  station,  and  galloped  down  the  Alp.     I  was  soon 


I860]  THE   LAUWINEN-THOE.  5 

amid  the  pinewoods  which  overhang  the  valley  of 
Grrindelwald,  with  no  guidance  save  the  slope  of  the 
mountain,  which,  at  times,  was  quite  precipitous  ; 
but  the  roots  of  the  pines  grasping  the  rocks  afforded 
hand  and  foot  such  hold  as  to  render  the  steepest 
places  the  pleasantest  of  all.  I  often  emerged  from 
the  gloom  of  the  trees  upon  lovely  bits  of  pastm^e — 
bright  emerald  gems  set  in  the  bosom  of  the  woods. 
It  appeared  to  me  surprising  that  nobody  had  con- 
structed a  resting-place  on  this  fine  slope.  With  a 
fraction  of  the  time  necessary  to  reach  the  top  of  the 
Faulhorn,  a  position  might  be  secured  from  which  the 
prospect  would  vie  in  point  of  grandeur  with  almost 
any  in  the  Alps  ;  while  the  ascent  from  Grindelwald, 
amid  the  shade  of  the  festooned  trees,  would  itself 
be  delightful. 

Hawkins,  who  had  halted  for  a  day  at  Thun,  had 
arrived  ;  our  guide  had  prepared  a  number  of  stakes, 
and  on  Monday  morning  we  mounted  our  theodolite 
and  proceeded  to  the  Lower  Glacier.  With  some 
difficulty  we  established  the  instrument  upon  a  site 
whence  the  glacier  could  be  seen  from  edge  to  edge  ; 
and  across  it  was  fixed  in  a  straight  lino  a  series  of 
twelve  stakes.  We  afterwards  ascended  the  glacier 
till  we  touched  the  avalanche-debris  of  the  Heisse 
Platte.  We  wandered  amid  the  moulins  and  cre- 
vasses until  evening  approached,  and  thus  gradually 
prepared  our  muscles  for  more  arduous  work.     On 


6  HOURS    OF    EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1860 

Tuesday  a  sleety  rain  filled  the  entire  air,  and  the 
glacier  was  so  laden  with  fog  that  there  was  no 
possibility  of  our  being  able  to  see  across  it.  On 
Wednesday,  happily,  the  weather  brightened,  and 
we  executed  our  measurements ;  finding,  as  in  all 
other  cases,  that  the  glacier  was  retarded  by  its 
bounding  walls,  its  motion  varying  from  a  minimum 
of  thirteen  and  a  half  inches  to  a  maximum  of 
twenty-two  inches  a  day.  "  To  Mr.  Hawkins  I 
am  indebted  both  for  the  fixing  of  the  stakes  and 
the  reduction  of  the  measurements  to  their  diurnal 
rate. 

Previous  to  leaving  England  I  had  agreed  to  join 
a  party  of  friends  at  the  iEggischhorn,  on  Thursday 
the  9th  of  August.  My  plan  was,  first  to  measure 
the  motion  of  the  Grindelwald  glacier,  and  after- 
wards to  cross  the  mountain-wall  which  separates  the 
canton  of  Berne  from  that  of  Valais,  so  as  to  pass 
from  Lauterbrunnen  to  the  iEggischhorn  in  a  single 
day.  How  this  formidable  barrier  was  to  be  crossed 
was  a  problem,  but  I  did  not  doubt  being  able  to 
get  over  it  somehow.  On  mentioning  my  wish  to 
Lauener,  he  agreed  to  try,  and  proposed  attacking 
it  through  the  Roththal.  In  company  with  his 
brother  Ulrich,  he  liad  already  spent  some  time  in 
the  Rotlithal,  seeking  to  scale  the  Jungfraii  from 
tliat  side.  Hawkins  had  previously,  I  believe,  enter- 
tained the  thought  of  assailing  the  same  barrier 
^t    the    very  same    place.     Having    completed  our 


1860 J  THE   LAUWINEN-THOR.  7 

measurements  on  the  Wednesday,  we  descended  to 
Grindelwald  and  discharged  our  bill.  We  desired  to 
obtain  the  services  of  Christian  Kaufmann,  a  guide 
well  acquainted  with  both  the  Wetterhom  and  the 
Jungfrau;  but  on  learning  our  intentions  he  ex- 
pressed fears  regarding  his  lungs,  and  recommended 
to  us  his  brother,  a  powerful  young  man,  who  had 
also  undergone  the  discipline  of  the  Wetterhom. 
Him  we  accordingly  engaged.  We  arranged  with 
the  landlord  of  the  Bear  to  have  the  main  mass  of 
our  luggage  sent  to  the  ^ggischhorn  by  a  more 
easy  route.  I  was  loth  to  part  with  the  theodolite, 
but  Lauener  at  first  grumbled  hard  against  taking 
it.  It  was  proposed,  however,  to  confine  his  load  to 
the  head  of  the  instrument,  while  Kaufmann  should 
carry  the  legs,  and  I  should  bear  my  own  knapsack. 
He  yielded.  Ulrich  Lauener  was  at  Grindelwald 
when  we  started  for  Lauterbrunnen,  and  on  bidding 
us  good-bye  he  remarked  that  we  were  going  to 
attempt  an  impossibility.  He  had  examined  the 
place  which  we  proposed  to  assail,  and  emphatically 
affirmed  that  it  could  not  be  surmounted.  We  were 
both  a  little  chagrined  by  this  gratuitous  announce- 
ment, and  answered  him  somewhat  warmly  ;  for  we 
knew  the  moral,  or  rather  immoral,  effect  of  such  an 
opinion  upon  the  spirits  of  our  men. 

The  weather  became  more  serene  as  we  approached 
Lauterbrunnen.  We  had  a  brief  evening  stroll,  but 
retired  to  bed  before  day  had  quite  forsaken  tlie 


8  HOURS    OF    EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [^1860 

mountains.  At  two  a.m.  the  candle  of  Lauener 
gleamed  into  our  bedrooms,  and  he  pronounced  the 
weather  fair.  We  got  up  at  once,  dressed,  de- 
spatched our  hasty  breakfast,  strapped  our  things  into 
the  smallest  possible  volume,  and  between  three  and 
four  A.M.  were  on  our  way.  The  hidden  sun  crim- 
soned faintly  the  eastern  sky,  but  the  valleys  were 
all  in  peaceful  shadow.  To  our  right  the  Staub- 
bach  dangled  its  hazy  veil,  while  other  Backs  of 
minor  note  also  hung  from  the  beetling  rocks,  but 
fell  to  earth  too  lightly  to  produce  the  faintest 
murmur.  After  an  hour's  march  we  deviated  to 
the  left,  and  wound  upward  through  the  woods  which 
here  cover  the  slope  of  the  hill. 
V  The  dawn  cheerfully  unlocked  the  recesses  of  the 
mountains,  and  we  soon  quitted  the  gloom  of  the 
woods  for  the  bright  green  Alp.  This  we  breasted, 
regardless  of  the  path,  until  we  reached  the  chalets 
of  the  Eoththal.  We  did  not  yet  see  the  par- 
ticular staircase  up  which  Lauener  proposed  to  lead 
us,  but  we  inspected  minutely  the  battlements  to 
our  right,  marking  places  for  future  attack  in  case 
our  present  attempt  should  not  be  successful.  Tlie 
elastic  gi'ass  disappeared,  and  we  passed  over  rough 
crag  and  shingle  alternately.  We  reached  the  base 
of  a  ridge  of  debris.,  and  mounted  it.  At  our  right 
was  the  glacier  of  the  Roththal,  along  the  lateral 
m:)raine  of  which  our  route  lay. 


1860]  THE    LAUWINEN-THOR.  9 

Just  as  we  touched  the  snow  a  spring  bubbled 
from  the  rocks  at  our  left,  spurting  its  water  over 
stalagmites  of  ice.  We  turned  towards  it,  and  had 
each  a  refreshing  draught.  Lauener  pointed  out  to 
us  the  remains  of  the  hut  erected  by  him  and  his 
brother  when  they  attempted  the  Jungfrau,  and 
from  which  they  were  driven  by  adverse  weather. 
We  entered  an  amphitheatre,  grand  and  beautiful 
this  splendid  morning,  but  doubtless  in  times  of 
tempest  a  fit  residence  for  the  devils  whom  popidar 
belief  has  banished  to  its  crags.  The  snow  for  a 
space  was  as  level  as  a  prairie,  but  in  front  of  us 
rose  the  mighty  bulwarks  which  separated  us  from 
the  neighbouring  canton.  To  our  right  were  the 
crags  of  the  Breithorn,  to  our  left  the  buttresses  of 
the  Jungfrau,  while  between  both  was  an  indentation 
in  the  mountain-wall,  on  which  all  eyes  were  fixed. 
From  it  downwards  himg  a  thread  of  snow,  which 
was  to  be  our  leading-string  to  the  top. 

Though  very  steep,  the  aspect  of  the  place  was 
by  no  means  terrible :  comparing  with  it  my 
memory  of  other  gulleys  in  the  Chamouni  moun- 
tains, I  imagined  that  three  hours  would  place  us 
at  the  top.  We  not  only  expected  an  easy  conquest 
of  the  barrier,  but  it  was  proposed  that  on  reaching 
the  top  we  should  tiu'n  to  the  left,  and  walk  straight 
to  the  summit  of  the  Jungfrau.  Lauener  was  hope- 
ful, but  not  sanguine.     We  were  soon  at  the  foot  of 


10  HOUES   OF    EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [l8Ct> 

the  barrier,  clambering  over  mounds  of  snow.  Huge 
consolidated  lumps  emerged  from  the  general  mass  ; 
the  snow  was  evidently  that  of  avalanches  which  had 
been  shot  down  the  couloir,  kneading  themselves 
into  vast  balls,  and  piling  themselves  in  heaps  upon 
the  plain.  The  gradient  steepened,  the  snow  was 
hard,  and  the  axe  was  invoked.  Straight  up  the 
couloir  seemed  the  most  promising  route,  and  we 
pursued  it  for  an  hour,  the  impression  gradually 
gaining  ground  that  the  work  would  prove  heavier 
than  we  had  anticipated. 

We  then  turned  our  eyes  on  the  rocks  to  oui 
right,  which  seemed  practicable,  though  very  steep ; 
we  swerved  towards  them,  and  worked  laboriously 
upwards  for  three-quarters  of  an  hour.  Mr.  Hawkins 
and  the  two  guides  then  turned  to  the  left,  and 
regained  the  snow,  leaving  me  among  the  crags. 
They  had  steps  to  cut,  while  I  had  none,  and,  conse- 
quently, I  got  rapidly  above  them.  Tlie  work  be- 
comes ever  harder,  and  rest  is  unattainable,  for  there 
is  no  resting-place.  At  every  brow  I  pause ;  legs 
and  breast  are  laid  against  the  rough  rock,  so  as  to 
lessen  by  their  friction  the  strain  upon  the  arms, 
which  are  stretched  to  grasp  some  protuberance 
above.  Thus  I  rest,  and  thus  I  learn  that  three 
days'  training  is  not  sufficient  to  dislodge  London 
from  one's  lungs.  Meanwhile  my  companions  are 
mounting  monotonously  along  the  snow.     Lauener 


A8CENT    OF   THE    I.AUWINEN    THOR. 


1860]  THE   LAUWINEN-THOR.  li 

looks  up  at  me  at  intervals,  and  I  can  clearly  mark  the 
expression  of  his  countenance  ;  it  is  quite  spiritless, 
while  that  of  his  companion  bears  the  print  of  absolute 
dismay.  Three  hours  have  passed  and  the  summit 
is  not  sensibly  nearer.  The  men  halt  and  converse 
together.  Lauener  at  length  calls  out  to  me,  '  I 
think  it  is  impossible.'  The  effect  of  Ulrich's  pre- 
diction appears  to  be  cropping  out ;  we  expostulate, 
however,  and  they  move  on.  After  some  time  they 
halt  again,  and  reiterate  their  opinion  that  the  thing 
cannot  be  done.  They  direct  our  attention  to  the 
top  of  the  barrier  ;  light  clouds  *cud  swiftly  over  it, 
and  snow-dust  is  scattered  in  the  air.  There  is 
storm  on  the  heights,  which  our  guides  affirm  has 
turned  the  day  against  us.  I  cast  about  in  my  mind 
to  meet  the  difficulty,  and  enquire  whether  we  might 
not  send  one  of  them  back  with  the  theodolite,  and 
thus  so  lighten  our  burdens  as  to  be  able  to  proceed. 
Kaufmann  volunteers  to  take  back  the  theodolite ; 
but  this  does  not  seem  to  please  Lauener.  There 
is  a  pause  and  hesitation.  I  remonstrate,  while 
Hawkins  calls  out  'Forward!'  Lauener  once  more 
doggedly  strikes  his  axe  into  the  snow,  and  resumes 
the  ascent. 

I  continued  among  the  rocks,  though  with  less 
and  less  confidence  in  the  wisdom  of  my  choice. 
My  knapsack  annoyed  me  excessively ;  the  straps 
frayed    my   shoulders,   and    tied   up   my    musclea 


12  HOURS   OF    EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1860 

Once  or  twice  I  had  to  get  round  a  protruding  face 
of  rock,  and  then  found  my  bonds  very  grievous. 
At  length  I  came  to  a  peculiar  piece  of  cliff,  near 
the  base  of  which  was  a  sharp  ridge  of  snow,  and 
at  a  height  of  about  five  feet  above  it  the  rock 
bulged  out,  so  that  a  stone  dropped  fi-om  its  pro- 
tuberance would  fall  beyond  the  ridge.  I  had  to 
work  along  the  snow  cautiously,  squatting  down  so 
as  to  prevent  the  rock  from  pushing  me  too  far  out. 
Had  I  a  fair  ledge  underneath  I  should  liave  felt  per- 
fectly at  ease,  but«on  the  stability  of  the  snow- wedge 
I  dared  not  calculate.  To  retreat  was  dangerous, 
to  advance  useless  ;  for  right  in  front  of  me  was 
a  sheer  smooth  precipice,  which  completely  extin- 
guished the  thought  of  fui-ther  rock-work.  I  ex- 
amined the  place  below  me,  and  saw  that  a  slip 
would  be  attended  with  the  very  worst  consequences. 
To  loose  myself  from  the  crag  and  attach  myself  to 
the  snow  was  so  perilous  an  operation  that  I  did 
not  attempt  it ;  and  at  length  I  ignobly  called  to 
Lauener  to  lend  me  a  hand.  A  gleam  of  satis- 
faction crossed  his  features  as  he  eyed  me  on  my 
perch.  He  manifestly  enjoyed  being  called  to  the 
rescue,  and  exhorted  me  to  keep  quite  still.  He 
worked  up  towards  me,  and  in  less  than  half  an 
hour  had  hold  of  one  of  my  legs.  '  The  place  is 
not  so  bad  after  all,'  he  remarked,  evidently  glad 
to    take    me  down,   in    more    senses    than   one.     I 


I860]  THE  LAXrVTINEN-THOK.  13 

descended  in  his  steps,  and  rejoined  Hafwkins  upon 
the  snow.  From  that  moment  Lauener  was  a  rege- 
nerate man ;  the  despair  of  his  visage  vanished,  and 
I  firmly  believe  that,  the  triumph  he  enjoyed,  by 
augmenting  his  self-respect,  was  the  proximate  cause 
of  our  subsequent  success. 

The  couloir  was  a  most  singular  one;  it  was 
excessively  steep,  and  along  it  were  two  great  scars, 
resembling  the  deep-cut  channels  of  a  mountain 
stream.  They  were,  indeed,  channels  cut  by  the 
snow-torrents  from  the  heights.  "We  scanned  those 
heights.  The  view  was  bounded  by  a  massive 
cornice,  from  which  the  avalanches  are  periodically 
let  loose.^  The  cornice  seemed  firm  ;  still  we  cast 
about  for  some  piece  of  rock  which  might  shelter  us 
from  the  destroyer  should  he  leap  from  his  lair. 
Apart  from  the  labour  of  the  ascent,  which  is  great, 
the  frequency  of  avalanches  will  always  render  this 
pass  a  dangerous  one.  At  2  p.m.  the  air  became 
intensely  cold.  My  companion  had  wisely  pocketed 
a  pair  of  socks,  which  he  drew  over  his  gloves,  and 
found  very  comforting.  My  leather  gloves,  being 
saturated  with  wet,  were  very  much  the  reverse. 

The  wind  was  high,  and  as  it  passed  the  crest 
of  the  Breithorn  its  moisture  was  precipitated  and 

'  Hence  tlie  name  '  Lauwinen-Thor,'  which,  with  the  consent  of 
Mr.  Hawkins,  if  not  at  his  suggestion,  I  have  given  to  the  pass.  [Tht 
name  has  since  been  ftcjopted  ip  all  the  maps.    March  1871.] 

2 


14  HOUES   OF  EXERCISE   IN  THE   ALPS.  [1860 

\J  ifterwards  carried  away.  The  clouds  thus  generated 
shone  for  a  time  with  the  lustre  of  pearls ;  but  as 
they  approached  the  sun  they  became  suddenly 
flooded  with  the  most  splendid  iridescences.'  At  our 
right  now  was  a  vertical  wall  of  brown  rock,  along 
the  base  of  which  we  advanced.  At  times  we  were 
sheltered  by  it,  but  not  always ;  for  the  wind  was 
as  fitful  as  a  maniac,  and  eddying  round  the  corners 
sometimes  shook  us  forcibly,  chilled  us  to  the  mar- 
row, and  spit  frozen  dust  in  our  faces.  The  snow, 
moreover,  adjacent  to  the  rock  had  been  melted  and 
refrozen  to  a  steep  slope  of  compact  ice.  The  men 
were  very  weary,  the  hewing  of  the  steps  exhausting, 
and  the  footing,  particularly  on  some  glazed  rocks 
over  which  we  had  to  pass,  exceedingly  insecure. 
Once  on  trying  to  fix  my  alpenstock  I  found  that 
it  was  coated  with  an  enamel  of  ice,  and  slipped 
through  my  wet  gloves.  This  startled  me,  for  the 
staff  is  my  sole  trust  under  such  circumstances.  The 
crossing  of  those  rocks  was  a  most  awkward  piece 
of  work  ;  a  slip  was  imminent,  and  the  effects  of  the 
consequent  glissade  not  to  be  calculated.  We  cleared 
them,  however,  and  now  observed  the  grey  haze 
creeping  down  from  the  peak  of  the  Breithorn  to 
the  point  at  which  we  were  aiming.  This,  however, 
was  visibly  nearer ;  and,  for  the  first  time  since  we 
began  to  climb,  Lauener  declared  that  he  had  good 
•  Seo  '  Note  on  Clouds,'  p.  82. 


5860]  THE   LAUWINEN-THOR.  15 

hopes — '  Jetzt  habe  ich  gute  Hofifnung.'  Another 
hour  brought  us  to  a  place  where  the  gradient 
slackened  suddenly.  The  real  work  was  done,  and 
ten  minutes  further  wading  through  the  deep  snow 
placed  us  fairly  on  the  summit  of  the  col. 

Looked  at  from  the  top  the  pass  will  seem  very 
formidable  to  the  best  of  climbers ;  to  an  ordinary 
eye  it  would  appear  simply  terrific.  We  reached 
the  base  of  the  barrier  at  nine  a.m.  ;  we  had  sur- 
mounted it  at  four;  seven  hours  consequently  had 
been  spent  upon  that  tremendous  wall.  Our  view 
was  limited  above  ;  clouds  were  on  all  the  mountains, 
and  the  Great  Aletsch  glacier  was  hidden  by  dense 
fog.  With  long  swinging  strides  we  went  down  the 
slope.  Several  times  during  our  descent  the  snow 
coating  was  perforated,  and  hidden  crevasses  revealed. 
At  length  we  reached  the  glacier,  and  plodded  along 
it  through  the  dreary  fog.  We  cleared  the  ice  just 
at  nightfall,  passed  the  Marjelin  See,  and  soon 
found  ourselves  in  utter  darkness  on  the  spurs  of 
the  ^ggischhorn.  We  lost  the  track  and  wandered 
for  a  time  bewildered.  We  sat  down  to  rest,  and 
then  learned  that  Laucner  was  extremely  ill.  To 
quell  the  pangs  of  toothache  he  had  chewed  a  cigar, 
which  after  his  day's  exertion  was  too  much  for  him. 
He  soon  recovered,  however,  and  we  endeavoured  to 
regain  the  track.    In  vain.    The  guides  shouted,  and 


16  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1860 

after  many  repetitions  we  heard  a  shout  in  reply.  A 
herdsman  approached,  and  conducted  us  to  some 
neighbouring  chalets,  whence  he  undertook  the 
office  of  guide.  After  a  time  he  also  found  himself 
in  difficulty.  We  saw  distant  lights,  and  Lauener 
once  more  pierced  the  air  with  his  tremendous 
whoop.  We  were  heard.  Lights  were  sent  towards 
us,  and  an  additional  half-hour  placed  us  under 
the  roof  of  Herr  Wellig,  the  active  and  intelligent 
proprietor  of  the  Jungfrau  hotel. 

After  this  day's  journey,  which  was  a  very  hard 
one,  the  tide  of  health  set  steadily  in.  I  have  no 
remembrance  of  any  further  exhibition  of  the  symp- 
toms which  had  driven  me  to  Switzerland.  Each 
day's  subsequent  exercise  made  both  brain  and 
muscles  firmer.  We  remained  at  the  -^ggischhom 
for  several  days,  occupying  ourselves  principally 
with  observations  and  measurements  on  the  Aletsch 
glacier,  and  joining  together  afterwards  in  that  day's 
excursion — unparalleled  in  my  experience — which 
has  found  in  my  companion  a  narrator  worthy  of  its 
glories.  And  as  we  stood  upon  the  savage  ledges  of 
the  Matterhorn,  with  the  utmost  penalty  which  the 
laws  of  falling  bodies  could  inflict  at  hand,  I  felt 
that  there  were  perils  at  home  for  intellectual  men 
greater  even  than  those  which  then  surrounded  us 
— foes,  moreover,  which  inspire  no  manhood  by  their 
attacks,  but  shatter  alike  the  architect  and  his  house 


1860J  THE  LAirWINEN-THOK.  17 

by  the  same  slow  process  of  disintegration.'  After 
the  discipline  of  the  Matterhom,  the  fatal  slope  of  the 
Col  du  Greant,  which  I  visited  a  few  days  afterwards, 
looked  less  formidable  than  it  otherwise  might  have 
done.  From  Courmayeur  I  worked  round  to  Cha- 
momii  by  Chapieu  and  the  Col  de  Bonhomme.  I 
attempted  to  get  up  Mont  Blanc  to  visit  the 
thermometers  which  I  had  planted  on  the  summit 
a  year  previously;  and  succeeded  during  a  brief 
interval  of  fair  weather  in  reaching  the  Grrands 
Mulcts.  But  the  gleam  which  tempted  me  thus 
far  proved  but  a  temporary  truce  to  the  war  of 
elements,  and,  after  remaining  twenty  hours  at. 
the  Mulcts,  I  was  obliged  to  beat  an  inglorious 
retreat. — Vacation  Tourists,  1860. 

'  This,  I  believe,  wis  in  allusion  to  the  .leath  of  Sir  CharloB 
Barry.~J.  T.,  18"1. 


18  HOURS   OF   EXEECISE  IN  THE   ALPS.  ri««0 


II. 

DISASTER   ON  THE   COL  DU  G^ANT. 

On  the  18tli  of  August,  while  JMr.  Hawkins  and  I 
were  staying  at  Breuil,  rumours  reached  us  of  a 
grievous  disaster  which  had  occuiTcd  on  the  Col  du 
Geant.  At  first,  however,  the  accounts  were  so  con- 
tradictory as  to  inspire  the  hope  that  they  might 
be  grossly  exaggerated  or  altogether  false.  But 
more  definite  intelligence  soon  arrived,  and  before 
we  quitted  Breuil  it  had  been  placed  beyond  a 
doubt  that  three  Englishmen,  with  a  guide  named 
Tairraz,  had  perished  on  the  col.  On  the  21st  I 
saw  the  brother  of  Tairraz  at  Aosta,  and  learned 
from  the  saddened  man  all  that  he  knew.  What 
I  then  heard  only  strengthened  my  desire  to  visit 
the  scene  of  the  catastrophe,  and  obtain  by  actual 
contact  with  the  facts  truer  information  than  could 
pos&ibly  be  conveyed  to  me  by  description.  On  tlie 
afternoon  of  the  22nd  I  accordingly  reached  Cour- 
mayeur,  and  being  informed  that  M.  Curie,  the 
resident  French  pastor,  liad  visited  the  place  and 
made  an  accurate  sketch  of  it,  I  immediately  called 
upon  him.     With  the  most  obliging  promptness  he 


.860]  DISASTER   ON    THE    COL    DU    Gi^ANT.  19 

placed  his  sketches  in  my  hands,  gave  me  a  written 
account  of  the  occurrence,  and  volunteered  to  ac- 
company me.  I  gladly  accepted  this  offer,  and  early 
on  the  morning  of  Thursday  the  21st  of  August  we 
walked  up  to  the  pavilion  which  it  had  been  the 
aim  of  the  travellers  to  reach  on  the  day  of  their 
death.  "Wishing  to  make  myself  acquainted  with 
the  entire  line  of  the  fatal  glissade,  I  walked 
directly  from  the  pavilion  to  the  base  of  the  rocky 
couloir  along  which  the  travellers  had  been  preci- 
pitated, and  which  had  been  described  to  me  as  so 
dangerous  that  a  chamois-hunter  had  declined 
ascending  it  some  days  before.  At  Courmayeur, 
however,  I  secured  the  services  of  a  most  intrepid 
man,  who  had  once  made  the  ascent,  and  who  now 
expressed  his  willingness  to  be  my  guide.  We 
began  our  climb  at  the  very  bottom  of  the  couloir, 
while  M.  Curie,  after  making  a  circuit,  joined  us  on 
the  spot  where  the  body  of  the  guide  Tairraz  had 
been  arrested,  and  where  we  found  sad  evidences 
of  his  fate.  From  this  point  onward  M.  Curie 
shared  the  dangers  of  the  ascent,  until  we  reached 
the  place  where  the  rocks  ended  and  the  fatal  snow- 
slope  began.  Among  the  rocks  we  had  frequent 
and  melancholy  occasion  to  assure  ourselves  that  we 
were  on  the  exact  track.  We  found  there  a  pen- 
knife, a  small  magnetic  compass,  and  many  other 
remnants  of  the  fall. 


20  HOUKS  OF  EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [18M 

At  the  bottom  of  the  snow-slope  M.  Curie  quitted 
me,  urging  me  not  to  enter  upon  the  slope,  but  to 
take  to  a  stony  ridge  on  the  right.  No  mere  in- 
spection, however,  could  have  given  me  the  desired 
information.  I  asked  my  guide  whether  he  feared 
the  snow,  and,  his  reply  being  negative,  we  entered 
upon  it  together,  and  ascended  it  along  the  furrow 
which  still  marked  the  line  of  fall.  Under  the 
snow,  at  some  distance  up  the  slope,  we  found  a  fine 
new  ice-axe,  the  property  of  one  of  the  guides.  We 
held  on  to  the  track  up  to  the  very  summit  of  the 
col,  and  as  I  stood  there  and  scanned  the  line  of  my 
ascent  a  feeling  of  augmented  sadness  took  posses- 
sion of  me.  There  seemed  no  sufficient  reason  for 
this  terrible  catastrophe.  With  ordinary  care  the 
slip  might  in  the  first  instance  have  been  avoided, 
and  with  a  moderate  amount  of  skill  and  vigour  the 
motion,  I  am  persuaded,  might  have  been  arrested 
soon  after  it  had  begun. 

Bounding  the  snow-slope  to  the  left  was  the  ridge 
along  which  travellers  to  Courmayeur  usually  descend. 
It  is  rough,  but  absolutely  without  danger.  The 
party  were,  however,  tired  when  they  reached  this 
place,  and  to  avoid  the  roughness  of  the  ridge  they 
took  to  the  snow.  The  inclination  of  the  slope  above 
was  moderate;  it  steepened  considerably  lower  down, 
but  its  steepest  portion  did  not  much  exceed  forty- 
five  degrees  of  inclination.     At  all  events,  a  skilful 


.860]  DISASTER   ON   THE    COL   DU   G^ANT.  21 

mountaineer  might  throw  himself  prostrate  on  the 
slope  with  perfect  reliance  on  his  power  to  arrest  hia 
downward  motion. 

It  is  alleged  that  when  the  party  entered  the 
summit  of  the  col  on  the  Chamouni  side  the  guides 
proposed  to  return,  but  the  Englishmen  persisted 
in  going  forward.  One  thing  alone  could  justify 
the  proposition  thus  ascribed  to  the  guides  by  their 
friends — a  fog  so  thick  as  to  prevent  them  from 
striking  the  summit  of  the  col  at  the  proper  point, 
and  to  compel  them  to  pursue  their  own  traces  back- 
wards. The  only  part  of  the  col  hitherto  regarded 
as  dangerous  had  been  passed,  and,  unless  for  the 
reason  assumed,  it  would  have  been  simply  absurd 
to  recross  this  portion  instead  of  proceeding  to 
Courmayeur.  It  is  alleged  that  a  fog  existed ;  but 
the  summit  had  been  reached,  and  the  weather 
cleared  afterwards.  Whether,  therefore,  the  English- 
men refused  to  return  or  not  on  the  Montanvert 
Bide,  it  ought  in  no  way  to  influence  our  judgment 
of  what  occurred  on  the  Courmayeur  side,  where  the 
weather  which  prompted  the  proposal  to  go  back 
ceased  to  be  blameable. 

A  statement  is  also  current  to  the  effect  that  the 
travellers  were  carried  down  by  an  avalanche.  In 
connection  with  this  point  M.  Curie  writes  to  me 
thus :  '  II  parait  qu'a  Chamounix  on  repand  le 
bruit  que  c'est  ime  avalanche  qui  a  fait  perir  lea 


22  HOURS   OF   EXEltCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1860 

voyageurs.  C'est  la  une  faussete  que  le  premier  vous 
saurez  dementir  sur  les  lieux.'  I  subscribe  without 
hesitation  to  this  opinion  of  M.  Curie.  That  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  snow  was  brought  down  by  the 
rush  was  probable,  but  an  avalanche  properly  so  called 
there  was  not,  and  it  simply  leads  to  misconception 
to  introduce  the  term  at  all. 

"We  are  now  prepared  to  discuss  the  accident.  The 
travellers,  it  is  alleged,  reached  the  summit  of  the 
col  in  a  state  of  great  exhaustion,  and  it  is  certain 
that  such  a  state  would  deprive  them  of  the  caution 
and  firmness  of  tread  necessary  in  perilous  places. 
But  a  knowledge  of  this  ought  to  have  prevented  the 
guides  from  entering  upon  the  snow-slope  at  all.  We 
are,  moreover,  informed  that  even  on  the  gentler  por- 
tion of  the  slope  one  of  the  travellers  slipped  repeat- 
edly. On  being  thus  warned  of  danger,  Avhy  did  not 
the  guides  quit  the  snow  and  resort  to  the  ridge  ? 
They  must  have  had  full  confidence  in  their  power 
to  stop  the  glissade  which  seemed  so  imminent,  or 
else  they  were  reckless  of  the  lives  they  had  in 
charge.  At  length  the  fatal  slip  occurred,  where  the 
fallen  man,  before  he  could  be  arrested,  gathered 
sufficient  momentum  to  jerk  the  man  beliind  him  off 
his  feet,  the  other  men  were  carried  away  in  succos- 
sion,  and  in  a  moment  the  whole  of  them  were  rusli- 
ing  downwards.  What  efforts  were  made  to  check 
this  fearful  ru!<h,  at  what  point  of  the  descent  the 


.860]  DISASTER   ON   THE   COL   DU   GliANT.  23 

two  guides  relinquished  the  rope,  which  of  them 
gave  way  first,  the  public  do  not  know,  though  this 
ought  to  be  known.  All  that  is  known  to  the 
public  is  that  the  two  men  who  led  and  followed  the 
party  let  go  the  rope  and  escaped,  while  the  three 
Englishmen  and  Tairraz  went  to  destruction.  Tairraz 
screamed,  but,  like  Englishmen,  the  others  met 
their  doom  without  a  word  of  exclamation. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  slope  a  rocky  ridge,  forming 
the  summit  of  a  precipice,  rose  slightly  above  the 
level  of  the  snow,  and  over  it  they  were  tilted.  I  do 
not  think  a  single  second's  suffering  could  have  been 
endured.  During  theVild  rush  downwards  the  be- 
wilderment was  too  great  to  permit  even  of  fear,  and 
at  the  base  of  the  precipice  life  and  feeling  ended 
suddenly  together.  A  steep  slope  of  rocks  connected 
the  base  of  this  precipice  with  the  brow  of  a  second 
one,  at  the  bottom  of  which  the  first  body  was  found. 
Another  slope  ran  from  this  point  to  the  summit  of 
another  ledge,  where  the  second  body  was  arrested, 
while  attached  to  it  by  a  rope,  and  quite  overhanging 
the  ledge,  was  the  body  of  the  third  traveller.  The 
body  of  the  guide  Tairraz  was  precipitated  much 
further,  and  was  much  more  broken. 

The  question  has  been  raised  whether  it  was  right 
under  the  circumstances  to  tie  the  men  together.  I 
believe  it  was  perfectly  right,  if  only  properly  done. 
But    the   actual    arrano-cment  was  this :  The  three 


24  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1860 

Englishmen  were  connected  by  a  rope  tied  firmly 
round  the  waist  of  each  of  them ;  one  end  of  the  rope 
was  held  in  the  hand  of  the  guide  who  led  the  party ; 
the  other  end  was  similarly  held  by  the  hindmost 
guide,  while  Tairraz  grasped  the  rope  near  its  middle. 
Against  this  mode  of  attachment  I  would  enter 
an  emphatic  protest.  It,  in  all  probability,  caused 
the  destruction  of  the  unfortunate  Eussian  traveller 
on  the  Findelen  Glacier  last  year,  and  to  it  I  believe 
is  to  be  ascribed  the  disastrous  issue  of  the  slip  on 
the  Col  du  Geant.  Let  me  show  cause  for  this  pro- 
test. At  a  little  depth  below  the  surface  the  snow 
upon  the  fatal  slope  was  firm  and  consolidated,  but 
upon  it  rested  a  superficial  layer,  about  ten  inches 
or  a  foot  in  depth,  partly  fresh,  and  partly  disin- 
tegrated by  the  weather.  By  the  proper  action  of 
the  feet  upon  such  loose  snow,  its  granules  are  made 
to  unite  so  as  to  afford  a  secure  footing ;  but  when 
a  man's  body,  presenting  a  large  surface,  is  tlirown 
prostrate  upon  a  slope  covered  with  such  snow,  the 
granules  act  like  friction  wheels,  offering  hardly  any 
resistance  to  the  downward  motion. 

A  homely  illustration  will  render  intelligible  the 
course  of  action  necessary  under  such  conditions. 
Suppose  a  boy  placed  upon  an  oilcloth  which  covers 
a  polished  table,  and  the  table  tilted  to  an  angle  of 
forty-five  degrees.  The  oilcloth  would  evidently 
slide  down,  carrying  the  boy  along  with  it,  as  the 


.860]  DISASTER   ON   THE   COL  DU   GJ^ANT.  25 

loose  snow  slid  over  the  firm  snow  on  the  Col  du 
Geant.  But  suppose  the  boy  provided  with  a  stick 
spiked  with  iron,  what  ought  he  to  do  to  check  his 
motion  ?  Evidently  drive  his  spike  through  the 
oilcloth  and  anchor  it  firmly  in  the  wood  underneath. 
A  precisely  similar  action  ought  to  have  been  re- 
sorted to  on  the  Col  du  Geant.  Each  man  as  he  fell 
ought  to  have  turned  promptly  on  his  face,  pierced 
with  his  armed  stafif  the  superficial  layer  of  soft 
snow,  and  pressed  with  both  hands  the  spike  into 
the  consolidated  mass  underneath.  He  would  thus 
have  applied  a  break,  sufficient  not  only  to  bring 
himself  to  rest,  but,  if  well  done,  sufficient,  I  believe, 
to  stop  a  second  person.  I  do  not  lightly  express  this 
opinion  :  it  is  founded  on  varied  experience  upon 
slopes  at  least  as  steep  as  that  under  consideration. 

Consider  now  the  bearing  of  the  mode  of  attach- 
ment above  described  upon  the  question  of  rescue. 
When  the  rope  is  fastened  round  the  guide's  waist, 
both  his  arms  are  free,  to  drive,  in  case  of  necessity, 
his  spiked  staff  into  the  snow.  But  in  the  case  be- 
fore us,  one  arm  of  each  guide  was  virtually  power- 
less ;  on  it  was  thrown  the  strain  of  the  falling  man 
in  advance,  by  which  it  was  effectually  fettered. 
But  this  was  not  all.  When  the  attached  arm  re- 
ceives the  jerk,  the  guide  instinctively  grasps  the 
rope  with  the  other  hand  ;  in  doing  so,  he  relin- 
quishes his  staff,  and  thus  loses  the  sheet-anchor  of 


26  nouns  of  exercise  in  the  alps.         [ism 

salvation.  Such  was  the  case  with  the  two  guides 
who  escaped  on  the  day  now  in  question.  The  one 
lost  his  baton,  the  other  his  axe,  and  they  probably 
had  to  make  an  expert  use  of  their  legs  to  save 
even  themselves  from  destruction.  Tairraz  was  in 
the  midst  of  the  party.  Whether  it  was  in  his 
power  to  rescue  himself  or  not,  whether  he  was 
caught  in  the  coil  of  the  rope  or  laid  hold  of  by 
one  of  his  companions,  we  can  never  know.  Let  us 
believe  that  he  clung  to  them  loyally,  and  went 
with  them  to  death  sooner  than  desert  the  post  of 
duty. 


IMO.  THE    MATTEEHORN — FIRST    ASSAULT.  27 


III. 

THE  MATTEEHORN— FIBST  ASSAULT. 
By  F.  VAUGHAN  HAWKINS,  M.A.' 

The  summer  and  autumn  of  1860  will  long  be  re- 
membered in  Switzerland  as  tbe  most  imgenial  and 
disastrous  season,  perhaps,  on  record ;  certainly 
without  a  parallel  since  1834.  The  local  papers 
were  filled  with  lamentations  over  '  der  ewige  Siid- 
wind,'  whicli  overspread  the  skies  with  perpetual 
cloud,  and  from  time  to  time  brought  up  tremendous 
storms,  the  fiercest  of  which,  in  the  three  first  days 
of  September,  carried  away  or  blocked  up  for  a  time, 
I  believe,  every  pass  into  Italy  except  the  Bernina. 
At  Andermatt,  on  the  St.  Gothard,  we  were  cut  off 
for  two  days  from  all  communications  whatever  by 
water  on  every  side.  The  whole  of  the  lower  Ehone 
valley  was  under  water.  A  few  weeks  later,  I  found 
the  Spliigen,  in  the  gorge  above  Chiavenna,  alto- 

'  Instead  of  attempting  to  MTite  one  myself,  I  requested  the  per- 
mission of  my  friend  Mr.  Hawkins  to  republisli  liis  admirable 
account  of  our  first  assault  upon  the  Matterhorn.  I  have  to  thank 
botli  him  and  Mr.  Macmillan  for  the  obliging  promptness  \rith 
which  my  request  was  granted. 


28  HOUES  OF  EXEECISE   IN  THE   ALPS.  [1860 

gether  gone,  remains  of  the  old  road  being  just 
visible  here  and  there,  but  no  more.  In  the  Valte- 
line,  I  found  the  Stelvio  road  in  most  imminent 
danger,  gangs  of  men  being  posted  in  the  courses  of 
the  torrents  to  divert  the  boulders,  which  every 
moment  threatened  to  overwhelm  the  bridges  on  the 
route.  A  more  unlucky  year  for  glacier  expeditions, 
therefore,  could  hardly  be  experienced ;  and  the 
following  pages  present  in  consequence  only  the 
narrative  of  an  imfinished  campaign,  which  it  is  the 
hope  of  Tyndall  and  myself  to  be  able  to  prosecute 
to  a  successful  conclusion  early  next  August. 

I  had  fallen  in  with  Professor  Tyndall  on  the 
Basle  Railway,  and  a  joint  plan  of  operations  had 
been  partly  sketched  out  between  us,  to  combine 
to  some  extent  the  more  especial  objects  of  each — 
scientific  observations  on  his  part ;  on  mine,  the 
exploration  of  new  passes  and  mountain  topography ; 
but  the  weather  sadly  interfered  with  these  designs. 
After  some  glacier  measurements  had  been  accom- 
plished at  Grindelwald,  a  short  spell  of  fair  weather 
enabled  us  to  effect  a  passage  I  had  long  desired  to 
try,  from  Lauterbrunnen  direct  to  the  ^ggisch- 
horn  by  the  Rothtlial,  a  small  and  unknown  but 
most  striking  glacier  valley,  known  to  Swiss  my- 
thology as  the  supposed  resort  of  condemned  spirits. 
We  scaled,  by  a  seven  hours'  perpendicular  climb, 
the  vast  amphitheatre  of  rock  which  bounds  the 


1860]  THE    MATTERHORN FIRST   ASSAULT.  29 

Aletsch  basin  on  this  side,  and  had  the  satisfaction 
of  falsifying  the  predictions  of  Ulrich  Lauener,  who 
bade  us  farewell  at  Grindelwald  with  the  dis- 
couraging assertion  that  he  should  see  us  back 
again,  as  it  was  quite  impossible  to  get  over  where 
we  were  going.  As  we  descended  the  long  reaches 
of  the  Aletsch  glacier,  rain  and  mist  again  gathered 
over  us,  giving  to  the  scene  the  appearance  of  a 
vast  Polar  sea,  over  the  surface  of  which  we  were 
travelling,  with  no  horizon  visible  anywhere  except 
the  distant  line  of  level  ice.  Arrived  at  the 
^ggischhorn,  the  weather  became  worse  than  ever ; 
a  week  elapsed  before  the  measurement  of  the 
Aletsch  glacier  could  be  completed ;  and  we  re- 
luctantly determined  to  dismiss  Bennen,  who  was 
in  waiting,  considering  the  season  too  bad  for  high 
ascents,  and  to  push  on  with  Christian  Lauener  to 
the  glaciers  about  Zinal.  Bennen  was  in  great 
distress.  He  and  I  had  the  previous  summer  re- 
connoitred the  Matterhorn  from  various  quarters, 
and  he  had  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  we  could 
in  all  probability  ('ich  beinahe  behaupte')  reach 
the  top.  That  year,  being  only  just  convalescent 
from  a  fever,  I  had  been  unable  to  make  the 
attempt,  and  thus  an  opportunity  had  been  lost 
which  may  not  speedily  recur,  for  the  mountain 
was  then  (September  1859)  almost  free  from  snow. 
Bennen  had  set  his  heart  on  our  making  the  at- 


30  HOUKS  OF  EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [i860 

tempt  in  1860,  and  great  was  liis  disappointment 
at  our  proposed  departure  for  Zinal.  At  the  last 
moment,  however,  a  change  of  plans  occurred. 
Lauener  was  unwilling  to  proceed  with  us  to 
Zinal :  we  resolved  to  give  Bennen  his  chance : 
the  theodolite  was  packed  up  and  despatched 
to  Geneva,  and  we  set  off  for  Breuil,  to  try  the 
Matterhorn. 

Accessible  or  not,  however,  the  Mont  Cervin  is 
assuredly  a  different  sort  of  affair  from  Mont  Blanc 
or  Monte  Rosa,  or  any  other  of  the  thousand  and 
one  summits  which  nature  has  kindly  opened  to 
man,  by  leaving  one  side  of  them  a  sloping  plain 
of  snow,  easy  of  ascent,  till  the  brink  of  the  pre- 
cipice is  reached  which  descends  on  the  other  side. 
The  square  massive  lines  of  terraced  crags  which 
fence  the  Matterhorn,  stand  up  on  all  sides  nearly 
destitute  of  snow,  and  where  the  snow  lies  thinly  on 
the  rocks  it  soon  melts  and  is  hardened  again  into 
smooth  glassy  ice,  which  covers  the  granite  slabs 
like  a  coat  of  varnish,  and  bids  defiance  to  the  axe. 
Every  step  of  the  way  lies  between  two  precipices, 
and  under  toppling  crags,  which  may  at  any  moment 
bring  down  on  the  climber  the  most  formidable 
of  Alpine  dangers — a  fire  of  falling  stones.  The 
mountain  too  has  a  sort  of  prestige  of  invincibility 
which  is  not  without  its  influence  on  the  mind,  and 
almost  leads  one  to  expect  to  encounter  some  new 


1860J  THE   MATTEREOEN — FIRST    ASSAULT.  31 

and  unheard-of  source  of  peril  upon  it :  hence  I 
suppose  it  is  that  the  dwellers  at  Zermatt  and  in 
Val  Toumanche  have  scarcely  been  willing  to  at- 
tempt to  set  foot  upon  the  mountain,  and  have  left 
the  honour  of  doing  so  to  a  native  of  another  district, 
who,  as  he  has  been  the  first  mortal  to  plant  foot  on 
the  hitherto  untrodden  peak,  so  he  will,  I  hope, 
have  the  honour,  which  he  deserves,  of  being  the 
first  to  reach  the  top. 

John  Joseph  Bennen,  of  Laax,  in  the  Upper 
Ehine  Valley,  is  a  man  so  remarkable  that  I  cannot 
resist  the  desire  (especially  as  he  cannot  read 
English)  to  say  a  few  words  about  his  character. 
Born  within  the  limits  of  the  German  tongue,  and 
living  amidst  the  mountains  and  glaciers  of  the 
Obcrland,  he  belongs  by  race  and  character  to  a 
class  of  men  of  whom  the  Laueners,  Melchior 
Anderegg,  Bortis,  Christian  Aimer,  Peter  Bohren, 
are  also  examples — a  type  of  mountain  race,  having 
many  of  the  simple  heroic  qualities  which  we  asso- 
ciate, whether  justly  or  unjustly,  with  Teutonic 
blood,  and  essentially  dififerent  from — to  my  mind, 
infinitely  superior  to — the  French-speaking,  versatile, 
wily  Chamouniard.  The  names  I  have  mentioned  are 
all  those  of  first-rate  men ;  but  Bennen,  as  (I  be- 
lieve) he  surpasses  all  the  rest  in  the  qualities  which 
fit  a  man  for  a  leader  in  hazardous  expeditions, 
combining  boldness  and  prudence  with  an  ease  and 


S2  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1860 

power  peculiar  to  himself,  so  he  has  a  faculty  of 
conceiving  and  planning  his  achievements,  a  way  of 
concentrating  his  mind  upon  an  idea,  and  working 
out  his  idea  with  clearness  and  decision,  which  I 
never  observed  in  any  man  of  the  kind,  and  which 
makes  him,  in  his  way,  a  sort  of  Garibaldi.  Tyndall, 
on  the  day  of  our  expedition,  said  to  him,  '  Sie  sind 
der  Garibaldi  der  Fiihrer,  Bennen ; '  to  which  he 
answered  in  his  simple  way,  '  Nicht  wahr  ? '  ('  Am  I 
not  ? '),  an  amusing  touch  of  simple  vanity,  a  dash 
of  pardonable  bounce,  being  one  of  his  not  least 
amiable  characteristics.  Thoroughly  sincere  and 
*  einfach '  in  thought  and  speech,  devoted  to  his 
friends,  without  a  trace  of  underhand  self-seeking 
in  his  relations  to  his  employers,  there  is  an  inde- 
pendence about  him,  a  superiority  to  most  of  his 
own  class,  which  makes  him,  I  always  fancy,  rather 
an  isolated  man ;  though  no  one  can  make  more 
friends  wherever  he  goes,  or  be  more  pleasant  and 
thoroughly  cheerful  under  all  circumstances.  But 
he  left  his  native  place,  Steinen,  he  told  mc,  the 
people  there  not  suiting  him ;  and  in  Laax,  where 
he  now  dwells,  I  guess  him  to  be  not  perhaps  alto- 
gether at  home.  Unmarried,  he  works  quietly  most 
of  the  year  at  his  trade  of  a  carpenter,  unless  when 
he  is  out  alone,  or  with  his  friend  Bortis  (a  man 
seemingly  of  reserved  and  uncommunicative  disposi- 
tion, but  a  splendid  mountaineer),  in  the  chase  after 


1860]  THE   MATTERHORN— FIRST    ASSAULT.  33 

chamois,  of  wliicli  he  is  passionately  fond,  and  will 
tell  stories,  in  his  simple  and  emphatic  way,  with 
the  greatest  enthusiasm.  Pious  he  is,  and  observant 
of  religious  duties,  but  without  a  particle  of  the 
'mountain  gloom,'  respecting  the  prevalence  of 
which  among  the  dwellers  in  the  High  Alps 
Mr.  Euskin  discourses  poetically,  but  I  am  myself 
rather  incredulous.  A  perfect  nature's  gentleman, 
he  is  to  me  the  most  delightful  of  companions  ;  and 
though  no  '  theory '  defines  oiu:  reciprocal  obliga- 
tions as  guide  and  employer,  I  am  sure  that  no 
precipice  will  ever  engulf  me  so  long  as  Bennen  is 
within  reach,  unless  he  goes  into  it  also — an  event 
which  seems  impossible — and  I  think  I  can  say  I 
would,  according  to  the  measm-e  of  my  capacity,  do 
the  same  by  him.  But  any  one  who  has  watched 
Bennen  skimming  along  through  the  mazes  of  a 
crevassed  glacier,  or  running  like  a  chamois  along 
the  side  of  slippery  ice-covered  crags,  axe  and  foot 
keeping  time  together,  will  think  that — as  Lauener 
said  of  his  brother  Johann,  who  perished  on  the 
Jungfrau,  he  could  never  fall — nothing  could  bring 
him  to  grief  but  an  avalanche.' 

•  As  Bennen  and  Tyndall  wero  going  up  the  Finsteraarhorn 
once  upon  a  time,  the  work  being  severe,  Bennen  turned  round 
and  said  to  Tyndall,  '  Icli  fiilile  mich  jetzt  ganz  wie  der  Tyroler 
einmal,'  and  went  on  to  relate  a  story  of  the  conversation  between  a 
priest  and  an  honest  Tj-rolese,  who  complained  to  his  father  con- 
fessor that  religion  and  an  extreme  passion  for  the  fair  sex  struggled 


34  H0UR3  OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1860 

Delayed  in  our  walk  from  the  ^ggischhom  by 
the  usual  severity  of  the  weather,  Tyndall,  Bennen, 
and  myself  reached  Breuil  on  Saturday,  August  18, 
to  make  our  attempt  on  the  Monday.  As  we 
approached  the  mountain,  Bennen's  countenance 
fell  visibly,  and  he  became  somewhat  gloomy ;  the 
mountain  was  almost  wliite  with  fresh-fallen  snow. 
;^ '  Nur  der  Schnee  furcht  mich,'  he  replied  to  our 
enquiries,  j  The  change  was  indeed  gi'eat  from  my 
recollection  of  the  year  before;  the  well-marked, 
terrace-like  lines  along  the  south  face,  which  are 
so  well  given  in  Mr.  George  Barnard's  picture, 
were  now  almost  covered  up;  through  the  tele- 
scope could  be  seen  distinctly  huge  icicles  depend- 
ing from  the  crags,  the  lines  of  melting  snow,  and 
the  dark  patches  wliich  we  hoped  might  spread  a 
great  deal  faster  than  they  were  likely  to,  duiing 
the  space  of  twenty-four  hours.  There  was  nothing 
for  it,  although  our  prospects  of  success  were 
materially  diminished  by  the  snow,  but  to  do  the 
best  we  could.  As  far  as  I  was  concerned,  I  felt 
that  I  should  be  perfectly  satisfied  with  getting  part 
of  the  way  up  on  a  first  trial,  wliich  would  make  one 
acquainted  wdth  the  nature  of  the  rocks,  dispel  the 

within  him,  and  neither  could  expel  the  other.  'Mein  Sohn,'  said 
the  priest,  '  Fraucn  zu  lieben  und  im  Ilimmel  zu  kommen,  das  geht 
nicht.'  'Ilerr  Pfarrer,'  sagto  der  Tyroler,  '  es  muss  gcJtcn'  'Und 
■o  sag*  ich  jetzt,'  cried  lienncn.  'lis  muss  gehen'  is  always  hia 
motto. 


860]  THE   MATTEKHOilN— FIKST   ASSAULT.  35 

prestige  which  seemed  to  hang  over  the  untrodden 
mountain,  and  probably  suggest  ways  of  shortening 
the  route  on  another  occasion. 

AYe  wanted  some  one  to  carry  the  knapsack  con- 
taining our  provisions  ;  and  on  the  recommendation 
of  the  landlord  at  Breuil,  we  sent  for  a  man,  named 
Carrel,  who,  we  were  told,  was  the  best  mountaineer 
in  Val  Toumanche,  and  the  nephew  of  M.  le  Cha- 
noine  Carrel,  whose  acquaintance  I  once  had  the 
honour  of  making  at  Aosta,  From  the  latter  de- 
scription I  rather  expected  a  yoimg,  and  perhaps 
aristocratic-looking  personage,  and  was  amused  at 
the  entrance  of  a  rough,  good-humoured,  shaggy- 
breasted  man,  between  forty  and  fifty,  an  ordinary 
specimen  of  the  peasant  class.  However,  he  did  his 
work  well,  and  with  great  good  temper,  and  seemed 
ready  to  go  on  as  long  as  we  chose  ;  though  he  told 
me  he  expected  we  should  end  by  passing  the  night 
somewhere  on  the  mountain,  and  I  don't  think  his 
ideas  of  our  success  were  ever  very  sanguine. 

We  were  to  start  before  3  a.m.  on  Monday  morn- 
ing, August  20 ;  and  the  short  period  for  sleep 
thus  left  us  was  somewhat  abridged  in  my  own  case, 
not  so  much  by  thoughts  of  the  coming  expedition, 
as  by  the  news  which  had  just  reached  us  in  a  vague, 
but,  unfortunately,  only  too  credible  form,  of  the 
terrible  accident  on  the  Col  du  Geant  a  few  days 
before.     The  account  thus  reaching  us  was  naturallj 


36  HOURS   OF  EXERCISE   IN   TIIE   ALPS.  [1860 

magnified,  and  we  were  as  yet  ignorant  of  the  names. 
I  could  not  at  night  shake  off  the  (totally  groundless) 
idea  that  a  certain  dear  friend  of  mine  was  among 
them,  and  that  I  ought  at  that  moment  to  be  hurry- 
ing off  to  Courmayeur,  to  mourn  and  to  bury  him. 
In  the  morning,  Jiowever,  these  things  are  forgotten ; 
we  are  off,  and  Carrel  pilots  us  with  a  lantern  across 
the  little  stream  which  runs  by  Breuil,  and  up  the 
hills  to  the  left,  where  in  the  darkness  we  seem  from 
the  sound  to  be  in  the  midst  of  innumerable  rills  of 
water,  the  effects  of  the  late  rains.  The  dark  outline 
of  the  Matterhorn  is  just  visible  against  the  sky,  and 
measuring  with  the  eye  the  distance  subtended  by 
the  height  we  have  to  climb,  it  seems  as  if  success 
must  be  possible :  so  hard  is  it  to  imagine  all  the 
ups  and  downs  which  lie  in  that  short  sky-line. 

Day  soon  dawns,  and  the  morning  rose-light 
touches  the  first  peak  westward  of  us ;  the  air  is 
wonderfully  calm  and  still,  and  for  to-day,  at  all 
events,  we  have  good  weather,  without  tliat  bitter 
enemy  the  north  wind  ;  but  a  certain  opaque  look  in 
the  sky,  long  streaks  of  cloud  radiating  from  the 
south-west  horizon  up  towards  the  zenith,  and  the 
too  dark  purple  of  the  hills  south  of  Aosta,  are  signs 
that  the  good  weather  will  not  bo  lasting.  By  five 
we  are  crossing  the  first  snow-beds,  and  now  Carrel 
falls  back,  and  the  leader  of  the  day  comes  to  the 
front :  all  the  day  he  will  be  cutting  steps,  but  those 


I860]  THE   MATTEKHORN— FIEST    ASSAULT.  37 

compact  and  powerful  limbs  of  his  will  show  no  signa 
of  extra  exertion,  and  to-day  he  is  in  particularly 
good  spirits.  ■  Carpentering,  by  the  way — not  fine 
turning  and  planing,  but  rough  out-of-doors  work, 
like  Bennen's — must  be  no  bad  practice  to  keep 
hand  and  eye  in  training  during  the  dead  season. 
"We  ascend  a  narrow  edge  of  snow,  a  cliflf  some  way 
to  the  right :  the  snow  is  frozen  and  hard  as  rock, 
and  arms  and  legs  are  worked  vigorcusly.  Tyndall 
calls  out  to  me,  to  know  whether  I  recollect  the 
*  conditions : '  i.e.  if  your  feet  slip  from  the  steps, 
turn  in  a  moment  on  your  face,  and  dig  in  hard 
with  alpenstock  in  both  hands  under  your  body ;  by 
this  means  you  will  stop  yourself  if  it  is  possible. 
Once  on  your  back,  it  is  all  over,  unless  others 
can  save  you :  you  have  lost  all  chance  of  helping 
yourself.  In  a  few  minutes  we  stop,  and  rope  all 
together,  in  which  state  we  continued  the  whole 
day.  The  prudence  of  this  some  may  possibly 
doubt,  as  there  were  certainly  places  where  the 
chances  were  greater  that  if  one  fell,  he  would  drag 
down  the  rest,  than  that  they  could  assist  him ;  but 
we  were  only  four,  all  tolerably  sure-footed,  and  in 
point  of  fact  I  do  not  recollect  a  slip  or  stumble  of 
consequence  made  by  any  one  of  us.  Soon  the  slope 
lessens  for  a  while,  but  in  front  a  wall  of  snow 
stretches  steeply  upwards  to  a  gap,  which  we  have 
to  reach,  in  a  kind  of  recess,  flanked  by  crags  of 
3 


38  HOURS   OF   EXEllCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1860 

formidable  appearance.  We  turn  to  tlie  rocks  on 
the  left  hand.  As,  to  one  walking  along  miry 
ways,  the  opposite  side  of  the  path  seems  ever  the 
most  inviting,  and  he  continually  shifting  his  course 
from  side  to  side  lengthens  his  journey  with  small 
profit,  so  in  ascending  a  moimtain  one  is  always 
tempted  to  diverge  from  snow  to  rocks,  or  vice 
versa.  Bennen  had  intended  to  mount  straight  up 
towards  the  gap,  and  it  is  best  not  to  interfere  with 
him ;  he  yields,  however,  to  our  suggestions,  and  we 
assail  the  rocks.  These,  however,  are  ice-bound, 
steep,  and  slippery :  hands  and  knees  are  at  work, 
and  progress  is  slow.  At  length  we  stop  upon  a 
ledge  where  all  can  stand  together,  and  Carrel 
proposes  to  us  (for  Bennen  and  he  can  only  conunu- 
nicate  by  signs,  the  one  knowing  only  French,  the 
other  German)  to  go  on  and  see  whether  an  easier 
way  can  be  found  still  further  to  the  left.  Bennen 
gives  an  approving  nod :  he  looks  with  indulgent 
pity  on  Carrel,  but  snubs  all  remarks  of  his  as  to 
the  route.  *  Er  weiss  gar  nichts,'  he  says.  Carrel 
takes  his  axe,  and  mounts  warily,  but  witli  good 
courage ;  presently  he  returns,  shaking  his  head. 
The  event  is  fortunate,  for  had  we  gone  further  to 
the  left,  we  should  have  reached  tlie  top  of  the 
ridge  from  which,  as  we  afterwards  found,  there  is 
no  passage  to  the  gap,  and  our  day's  work  would 
probably  have  ended  then  and  there.     Bennen  now 


1860]  THE   MATTERHORN— FIRST    ASSAULT.  39 

leads  to  the  right,  and  moves  swiftly  up  from  ledge 
to  ledge.  Time  is  getting  on,  but  at  length  we 
emerge  over  the  rocks  just  in  face  of  the  gap, 
and  separated  from  it  by  a  sort  of  large  snow-crater, 
overhung  on  the  left  by  the  end  of  the  ridge,  from 
which  stones  fall  which  have  scarred  the  sides  of  the 
crater.  The  sides  are  steep,  but  we  curve  quickly 
and  silently  round  them :  no  stones  fall  upon  us ; 
and  now  we  have  reached  the  narrow  neck  of  snow 
which  forms  the  actual  gap;  it  is  half-past  eight, 
and  the  first  part  of  our  work  is  done. 

By  no  means  the  hardest  part,  however.  We 
stand  upon  a  broad  red  granite  slab,  the  lowest  step 
of  the  actual  peak  of  the  Matterhorn :  no  one  has 
stood  there  before  us.  The  slab  forms  one  end  of 
the  edge  of  snow,  surmounted  at  the  other  end  by 
some  fifty  feet  of  overhanging  rock,  the  end  of  the 
ridge.  On  one  side  of  us  is  the  snow-crater,  round 
which  we  had  been  winding;  on  the  other  side  a 
scarped  and  seamed  face  of  snow  drops  sheer  on  the 
north,  to  what  we  know  is  the  Zmutt  glacier.  Some 
hopes  I  had  entertained  of  making  a  pass  by  this 
gap,  from  Breuil  to  Zermatt,  vanish  immediately. 
Above  us  rise  the  towers  and  pinnacles  of  the  Matter- 
horn,  certainly  a  tremendous  array.  Actual  contact 
immensely  increases  one's  impressions  of  this^  the 
hardest  and  strongest  of  all  the  mountain  masses  of 
the  Alps  ;  its  form  is  more  remarkable  than  that  of 


40  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE    ALPS.  [1860 

other  mountains,  not  by  chance,  but  because  it  is 
built  of  more  massive  and  durable  materials,  and 
more  solidly  put  together :  nowhere  have  I  seen 
such  astonishing  masonry.  The  broad  gneiss  blocks 
are  generally  smooth  and  compact,  with  little  ap- 
pearance of  splintering  or  weathering.  Tons  of 
rock,  in  the  shape  of  boulders,  must  fall  almost  daily 
down  its  sides,  but  the  amount  of  these,  even  in  the 
course  of  centuries,  is  as  nothing  compared  with  the 
mass  of  the  mountain ;  the  ordinary  processes  of 
disintegration  can  have  little  or  no  effect  on  it.  If 
one  were  to  follow  Mr.  Ruskin,  in  speculating  on 
the  manner  in  which  the  Alpine  peaks  can  have 
assumed  their  present  shape,  it  seems  as  if  such  a 
mass  as  this  can  have  been  blocked  out  only  while 
rising  from  the  sea,  under  the  action  of  waves  such 
as  beat  against  the  granite  headlands  of  the  Land's 
End.  Once  on  dry  land,  it  must  stand  as  it  does 
now,  apparently  for  ever. 

Two  lines  of  ascent  offer,  between  which  we  have 
to  choose :  one  along  the  middle  or  dividing  ridge, 
the  back-bone  of  the  mountain,  at  the  end  of  which 
we  stand  ;  the  other  by  an  edge  some  little  way  to 
the  right :  a  couloir  lies  between  them.  We  choose 
the  former,  or  back-bone  ridge ;  but  the  other 
proves  to  be  less  serrated,  and  we  shall  probably  try 
it  on  another  occasion.  As  we  step  from  our  halt- 
ing-place, Bennen  turns  round  and  addresses  us  in 


I860]  THE   MATTERHORN— FIRST   ASSAULT  41 

a  few  words  of  exhortation,  like  the  generals  in 
Thucydides.  He  knows  us  well  enough  to  be  sure 
that  we  shall  not  feel  afraid,  but  every  footstep 
must  be  planted  with  the  utmost  precaution :  no 
fear,  'wohl  immer  Achtung.'  Soon  our  difficulties 
begin;  but  I  despair  of  relating  the  incidents  of 
this  part  of  our  route,  so  numerous  and  bewildering 
were  the  obstacles  along  it ;  and  the  details  of  each 
have  somewhat  faded  from  the  memory.  We  are 
immersed  in  a  wilderness  of  blocks,  roofed  and 
festooned  with  huge  plates  and  stalactites  of  ice,  so 
large  that  one  is  half  disposed  to  seize  hold  and 
clamber  up  them.  Eound,  over,  and  under  them 
we  go :  often  progress  seems  impossible  ;  but 
Bennen,  ever  in  advance,  and  perched  like  a  bird  on 
some  projecting  crag,  contrives  to  find  a  way.  Now 
we  crawl  singly  along  a  narrow  ledge  of  rock,  with  a 
wall  on  one  side,  and  nothing  on  the  other :  there  is 
no  hold  for  hands  or  alpenstock,  and  the  ledge  slopes 
a  little,  so  that  if  the  nails  in  oiu:  boots  hold  not, 
down  we  shall  go :  in  the  middle  of  it  a  piece  of 
rock  juts  out,  which  we  ingeniously  duck  under, 
and  emerge  just  under  a  shower  of  water,  which 
there  is  no  room  to  escape  from.  Presently  comes 
a  more  extraordinary  place  :  a  perfect  chimney  of 
rock,  cased  all  over  with  hard  black  ice,  about  an 
inch  thick.  The  bottom  leads  out  into  space,  and 
the  top  is  somewhere  in  the  upper  regions  :  there  ia 


42  nOUES   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1860 

absolutely  nothing  to  grasp  at,  and  to  this  day  I 
cannot  understand  how  a  human  being  could  get  up 
or  down  it  unassisted.  Bennen,  however,  rolls  up  it 
somehow,  like  a  cat ;  he  is  at  the  top,  and  beckons 
Tyndall  to  advance ;  my  turn  comes  next ;  I  en- 
deavour to  mount  by  squeezing  myself  against  the 
sides,  but  near  the  top  friction  suddenly  gives 
way,  and  down  comes  my  weight  upon  the  rope : — 
a  stout  haul  from  above,  and  now  one  knee  is  upon 
the  edge,  and  I  am  safe :  Carrel  is  pulled  up  after 
me.  After  a  time,  we  get  oflf  the  rocks,  and  mount 
a  slope  of  ice,  which  curves  rapidly  over  for  about 
three  yards  to  our  left,  and  then  (apparently)  drops 
at  once  to  the  Zmutt  glacier.  We  reach  the  top  of 
this,  and  proceed  along  it,  till  at  last  a  sort  of 
pinnacle  is  reached,  from  which  we  can  survey  the 
line  of  towers  and  crags  before  us  up  to  a  point 
just  below  the  actual  top,  and  we  halt  to  rest  a 
while.  Bennen  goes  on  to  see  whether  it  be  possible 
to  cross  over  to  the  other  ridge,  which  seems  an 
easier  one.  Left  to  himself,  he  treads  lightly  and 
almost  carelessly  along.  '  Geb'  Acht,  Bennen ! '  (Take 
care  of  yourself)  we  shout  after  him,  but  need- 
lessly; ho  stops  and  moves  alternately,  peering 
wistfully  about,  exactly  like  a  chamois ;  but  soon  he 
returns,  and  says  there  is  no  passage,  and  we  must 
keep  to  the  ridge  we  are  on. 

Three  hours  had  not  yet  elapsed  since  wo  left  the 


1860]  THE   MATTERHORN— FIRST    ASSAULT.  43 

gap,  and  from  our  present  station  we  could  survey 
the  route  as  far  as  a  point  which  concealed  from 
us  the  actual  summit,  and  could  see  that  the 
difficulties  before  us  were  not  greater  than  we  had 
already  passed  through,  and  such  as  time  and  per- 
severance would  surely  conquer.  Nevertheless,  there 
is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  such  expeditions,  and  the 
impression  had  been  for  some  time  gaining  ground 
with  me  that  the  tide  on  the  present  occasion  had 
turned  against  us,  and  that  the  time  we  could 
prudently  allow  was  not  sufficient  for  us  to  reach 
the  top  that  day.  Before  trial,  I  had  thought  it 
not  improbable  that,  the  ascent  might  turn  out 
either  impossible  or  comparatively  easy ;  it  was 
now  tolerably  clear  that  it  was  neither  the  one  nor 
the  other,  but  an  exceedingly  long  and  hard  piece 
of  work,  which  the  unparalleled  amount  of  ice  made 
longer  and  harder  than  usual.  I  asked  Bennen  if 
he  thought  there  was  time  enough  to  reach  the  top 
of  all :  he  was  evidently  unwilling,  however,  to  give 
up  hopes ;  and  Tyndall  said  he  would  give  no 
opinion  either  way ;  so  we  again  moved  on. 

At  length  we  came  to  the  base  of  a  mighty  knob, 
huger  and  uglier  than  its  fellows,  to  which  a  little 
arete  of  snow  served  as  a  sort  of  drawbridge.  I 
began  to  fear  lest  in  the  ardour  of  pursuit  we 
might  be  carried  on  too  long,  and  Bennen  might 
forget  the  paramount   object  ©f  securing  our  safe 


44  HOURS   OF  EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [iSviO 

retreat.  I  called  out  to  liim  that  I  thought  I 
should  stop  somewhere  here,  that  if  he  could  go 
faster  alone  he  might  do  so,  but  he  must  turn  in 
good  time.  Bennen,  however,  was  already  climbing 
with  desperate  energy  up  the  sides  of  the  kerb; 
Tyndall  would  not  be  behind  him ;  so  I  loosed  the 
rope  and  let  them  go  on.  Carrel  moved  back  across 
the  little  arete,  and  sat  down,  and  began  to  smoke  : 
I  remained  for  a  while  standing  with  my  back 
against  the  knob,  and  gazed  by  myself  upon  the 
scene  around. 

As  my  blood  cooled,  and  the  sounds  of  human 
footsteps  and  voices  grew  fainter,  I  began  to  realise 
the  height  and  the  wonderful  isolation  of  our 
position.  The  air  was  preternaturally  still ;  an 
occasional  gust  came  eddying  round  the  comer  of 
the  mountain,  but  all  else  seemed  strangely  rigid 
and  motionless,  and  out  of  keeping  with  the  beating 
heart  and  moving  limbs,  the  life  and  activity  of 
man.  Those  stones  and  ice  have  no  mercy  in  them, 
no  sympathy  with  human  adventure ;  they  submit 
passively  to  what  man  can  do  ;  but  let  him  go  a  step 
too  far,  let  heart  or  hand  fail,  mist  gather  or  sun  go 
down,  and  they  will  exact  the  penalty  to  the  utter- 
most. The  feeling  of  'the  sublime'  in  such  cases 
depends  very  much,  I  think,  on  a  certain  balance 
between  the  forces  of  nature  and  man's  ability  to 
cope  with  them:  if  they  arc  too  weak,  the  scene 


1860]  THE  MATTEKHOKN— FIRST   ASSAULT.  45 

fails  to  impress ;  if  they  are  too  strong  for  him, 
what  was  sublime  becomes  only  terrible.  Looking 
at  the  Dome  du  Groute  or  the  Zumstein  Spitze  full 
in  the  evening  sun,  when  they  glow  with  an  abso- 
lutely unearthly  loveliness,  like  a  city  in  the  heavens, 
I  have  sometimes  thought  that,  place  but  the 
spectator  alone  just  now  upon  those  shining 
heights,  with  escape  before  night  all  but  impossible, 
and  he  will  see  no  glory  in  the  scene — only  the 
angry  eye  of  the  setting  sun  fixed  on  dark  rocks  and 
dead-white  snow. 

We  had  risen  seemingly  to  an  immense  height 
above  the  gap,  and  the  ridge  which  stretches  from  the 
Matterhom  to  the  Dent  d'Erin  lay  flat  below  ;  but 
the  peak  still  towered  behind  me,  and,  measuring  our 
position  by  the  eye  along  the  side  of  our  neighbour 
of  equal  height,  the  Weisshorn,  I  saw  that  we  must 
be  yet  a  long  way  beneath  the  top.  The  gap  itself, 
and  all  traces  of  the  way  by  which  we  had  ascended, 
were  invisible  ;  I  could  see  only  the  stone  where 
Carrel  sat,  and  the  tops  of  one  or  two  crags  rising 
from  below.  The  view  was,  of  course,  magnificent, 
and  on  three  sides  wholly  unimpeded  :  with  one  hand 
I  could  drop  a  stone  which  would  descend  to  Zmutt, 
with  the  other  to  Breuil.  In  front  lay,  as  in  a  map, 
the  as  yet  unexplored  peaks  to  south  and  west  of  the 
Dent  d'Erin,  the  range  which  separates  Val  Tour- 
nanche  from  the  Valpelline,  and  the  glacier  region 


46  HOUBS  OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [186C 

beyond,  called  in  Ziegler's  map  Zardezan,  over  which 
a  pass,  perchance,  exists  to  Zermatt.  An  illimitable 
range  of  blue  hills  spread  far  away  into  Italy. 

I  walked  along  the  little  arete,  and  sat  down ;  it 
was  only  broad  enough  for  the  foot,  and  in  perfectly 
cold  blood  even  this  perhaps  might  have  appeared 
uncomfortable.  Turning  to  look  at  Tyndall  and 
Bennen,  I  could  not  help  laughing  at  the  picture 
of  our  progress  under  difficulties.  They  seemed  to 
have  advanced  only  a  few  yards.  '  Have  you  got  no 
further  than  that  yet  ?  '  I  called  out,  for  we  were  all 
the  time  within  hearing.  Their  efforts  appeared 
prodigious:  scrambling  and  sprawling  among  the 
huge  blocks,  one  fancied  they  must  be  moving  along 
some  unseen  bale  of  heavy  goods  instead  of  only  the 
weight  of  their  own  bodies.  As  I  looked,  an  ominous 
visitant  appeared :  down  came  a  fragment  of  rock, 
the  size  of  a  man's  body,  and  dashed  past  me  on 
the  couloir,  sending  the  snow  flying.  For  a  moment 
I  thought  they  might  have  dislodged  it ;  but  looking 
again  I  saw  it  had  passed  over  their  heads,  and  come 
from  the  crags  above.  Neither  of  them,  I  believe, 
observed  the  monster ;  but  Tyndall  told  me  after- 
wards that  a  stone,  possibly  a  splinter  from  it,  had 
hit  him  in  the  neck,  and  nearly  choked  him.  I 
looked  anxiously  again,  but  no  more  followed.  A 
single  shot,  as  it  were,  had  been  fired  across  our  bows ; 
but  the  ship's  course  was  already  on  the  point  of 
leing  put  about. 


I860]  THE   MATTERHOEN— FIRST   ASSAULT.  47 

Expecting  fully  that  they  would  not  persevere 
beyond  a  few  minutes  longer,  I  called  out  to  Tyndall 
to  know  how  soon  they  meant  to  be  back.  '  In  an 
hour  and  a  half,'  he  replied,  whether  in  jest  or 
earnest,  and  they  disappeared  round  a  projecting 
comer.  A  sudden  qualm  seized  me,  and  for  a  few 
minutes  I  felt  extremely  uncomfortable :  what  if 
the  ascent  should  suddenly  become  easier,  and  they 
should  go  on,  and  reach  the  top  without  me  ?  I 
thought  of  summoning  Carrel,  and  pursuing  them ; 
but  the  worthy  man  sat  quietly,  and  seemed  to  have 
had  enough  of  it.  My  suspense,  however,  was  not 
long  :  after  two  or  three  minutes  the  clatter,  which 
had  never  entirely  ceased,  became  louder,  and  their 
forms  again  appeared  :  they  were  evidently  de- 
scending. In  fact,  Bennen  had  at  length  turned, 
and  said  to  Tyndall,  'Ich  denke  die  Zeit  ist  zu  kurz.' 
I  was  glad  that  he  had  gone  on  as  long  as  he  chose, 
and  not  been  turned  back  on  my  responsibility.  They 
had  found  one  part  of  this  last  ascent  the  worst  of 
any,  but  the  way  was  open  thenceforward  to  the 
farthest  visible  point,  which  can  be  no  long  way 
below  the  actual  top. 

It  was  now  just  about  mid-day,  and  ample  time  for 
the  descent,  in  all  probablity,  was  before  us  ;  but  we 
resolved  not  to  halt  for  any  length  of  time  till  we 
should  reach  the  gap.  Descending,  unlike  ascend- 
ing, is  generally  not  so  bad  as  it  seems  ;  but  in  somo 
places   here   only  one  can  advance  at  a  time,  the 


48  HOURS  OF  EXEKCISE   IN  THE   ALPS.  [186« 

other  carefully  holding  the  rope.  '  Tenez  forte- 
ment,  Carrel,  tenez,'  is  constantly  impressed  on  the 
man  who  brings  up  the  rear.  '  Splendid  practice  for 
us,  this,'  exclaims  Tyndall  exultingly,  as  each  succes- 
sive difficulty  is  overcome.  At  length  we  reach  a 
place  whence  no  egress  is  possible ;  we  look  in  vain 
for  traces  of  the  way  we  had  come :  it  is  our  friend 
the  ice-coated  chimney.  Bennen  gets  down  first,  in 
the  same  mysterious  fashion  as  he  got  up,  and  assists 
iLS  down ;  presently  a  shout  is  heard  behind ;  Carrel 
is  attempting  to  get  down  by  himself,  and  has  stuck 
fast ;  Bennen  has  to  extricate  him.  We  are  now 
getting  rapidly  lower ;  soon  the  difficulties  diminish ; 
our  gap  appears  in  sight,  and  once  more  we  reach 
the  broad  granite  slab  beside  the  narrow  col,  and 
breathe  more  freely. 

Two  hours  have  brought  us  down  thus  far  ;  but  if 
we  are  to  return  by  the  way  we  came,  three  or  four 
hours  of  hard  work  are  still  needed  before  we  arrive 
at  anything  like  ordinary  snow-walking.  We  hold 
a  consultation.  Bennen  thinks  the  rocks,  now  that 
the  ice  is  melting  in  the  afternoon  sun,  will  be 
difficult,  and  '  withal  somewhat  dangerous '  (ctwa 
gefiihrlich  auch).  The  reader  will  remark  that 
Bennen  uses  the  word  '  dangerous '  in  its  legitimate 
sense.  A  place  is  dangerous  where  a  good  climber 
cannot  be  secure  of  his  footing ;  a  place  is  not 
dangerous  where  a  good  climber  is  in  no  danger  of 


1860]  THE   MATTERHOKN — FIRST   ASSAULT.  49 

slipping,  althougli  to  slip  may  be  fatal.  We  deter- 
mine to  see  if  it  be  possible  to  descend  the  sides  of 
the  snow-crater,  on  the  brink  of  which  we  now  stand. 
The  crater  is  portentously  steep,  deeply  lined  with 
fresh  snow,  which  glistens  and  melts  in  the  powerful 
sun.  The  experiment  is  slightly  hazardous,  but  we 
resolve  to  try.  The  crater  appears  to  narrow  gradu- 
ally to  a  sort  of  funnel  far  down  below,  through 
which  we  expect  to  issue  into  the  glacier  beneath. 
At  the  sides  of  the  funnel  are  rocks,  which  some  one 
suggests  might  serve  to  break  our  fall,  should  the 
snow  go  down  with  us,  but  their  tender  mercies  seem 
to  me  doubtful.  Cautiously,  with  steady,  balanced 
tread,  we  commit  ourselves  to  the  slope,  distributing 
the  weight  of  the  body  over  as  large  a  space  of  snow 
as  possible,  by  fixing  in  the  pole  high  up,  and  the 
feet  far  apart,  for  a  slip  or  stumble  now  will  pro- 
bably dissolve  the  adhesion  of  the  fresh,  not  yet 
compacted  mass,  and  we  shall  go  down  to  the  bottom 
in  an  avalanche.  Six  paces  to  the  right,  then  again 
to  the  left ;  we  are  at  the  mercy  of  those  overhang- 
ing rocks  just  now,  and  the  recent  tracks  of  stones 
look  rather  suspicious ;  but  all  is  silent,  and  soon 
we  gain  confidence,  and  congratulate  ourselves  on 
an  expedient  which  has  saved  us  hom-s  of  time  and 
toil.  Just  to  our  right  the  snow  is  sliding  by,  first 
slowly,  then  faster ;  keep  well  out  of  the  track  of 
it,  for  underneath  is  a  hard  polished  surface,  and 


50  HOURS  OF  EXERCISE  IN  THE   ALPS.  [1860 

if  your  foot  chance  to  light  there,  ofiF  you  will  pro- 
bably shoot.  The  snow  travels  much  faster  than  we 
do,  or  have  any  desire  to  do ;  we  are  like  a  coach 
travelling  alongside  of  an  express  train  ;  in  popular 
phrase,  we  are  going  side  by  side  with  a  small  ava- 
lanche, though  a  real  avalanche  is  a  very  different 
matter.  Soon  we  come  somewhat  under  the  lee  of  the 
rocks,  and  now  all  risk  is  over,  we  are  through  the 
funnel,  and  floundering  waist-deep,  heedless  of  cre- 
vasses in  the  comparatively  level  slopes  beyond.  We 
plunge  securely  down  now  in  the  deep  snow,  where 
care  and  caution  had  been  requisite  in  crossing  the 
frozen  surface  in  the  morning ;  at  length  we  cast 
off  the  rope,  and  are  on  terra  firma. 

We  shall  be  at  Breuil  in  unexpectedly  good  time, 
before  five  o'clock ;  but  it  is  well  we  are  off  the 
mountain  early,  for  clouds  and  mist  are  already 
gathering  round  the  peak,  and  the  weather  is  about 
to  break.  Tyndall  rushes  rapidly  down  the  slopes, 
and  is  lost  to  view  ;  Bennen  and  I  walk  slowly,  dis- 
cussing the  results  of  the  day.  I  am  glad  to  see 
that  he  is  in  high  spirits,  and  confident  of  our  future 
success.  He  agrees  with  me  to  reach  the  top  will 
be  an  exceedingly  long  day's  work,  and  that  we  must 
allow  ten  hours  at  least  for  the  actual  peak,  six  to 
ascend,  four  to  descend ;  we  must  start  next  time, 
he  says,  '  ganz,  ganz  friih,'  and  manage  to  reach  the 
gap  by  seven  o'clock.     Presently  we  deviate  a  little 


1860]  THE   MATTERHOKN FIRST    ASSAULT.  51 

from  our  downward  course  ;  the  same  thought  occu- 
pies our  minds  ;  we  perceive  a  long  low  line  of  roof  on 
the  mountain-side,  and  are  not  mistaken  in  supposing 
that  our  favourite  food  will  at  this  hour  be  found  there 
in  abundance.  The  shepherds  on  the  Italian  hills 
are  more  hospitable  and  courteous,  I  think,  than  their 
Swiss  brethren :  twenty  cows  are  moving  their  tails 
contentedly  in  line  under  the  shed,  for  Breuil  is  a 
rich  pasture  valley,  and  in  an  autumn  evening  I 
have  counted  six  herds  of  from  ninety  to  a  hundred 
each,  in  separate  clusters,  like  ants,  along  the  stream 
in  the  distance.  The  friendly  man,  in  hoarse  but 
hearty  tones,  urges  us  on  as  we  drink  ;  Bennen  puts 
into  his  hand  forty  centimes  for  us  both  (for  we 
have  disposed  of  no  small  quantity) :  but  he  is  with 
difficulty  persuaded  to  accept  so  large  a  sum,  and 
calls  after  us,  '  C'est  trop,  c'est  trop,  messieurs.' 
Long  may  civilisation  and  half-francs  fail  of  reach- 
ing his  simple  abode  ;  for,  alas !  the  great  tourist- 
world  is  corrupting  the  primitive  chalet-life  of  the 
Alps,  and  the  Alpine  man  returning  to  his  old 
haunts,  finds  a  rise  in  the  price  even  of  '  niedl '  and 
'  mascarpa.' 

The  day  after  our  expedition  Bennen  and  myself 
recrossed  the  Theodule  in  a  heavy  snow-storm. 
Tyndall  started  for  Chamouni,  for  the  weather  was 
too  bad  to  justify  an  indefinite  delay  at  Breuil  in 
the  hope  of  making  another  attempt  that  year,  and 


52  nOUES   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1860 

by  waiting  till  another  season  we  were  sare  of 
obtaining  less  unfavourable  conditions  of  snow  and 
ice  upon  the  mountain. — ^\Ye  had  enjoyed  an  excit- 
ing and  adventurous  day,  and  I  myself  was  not 
sorry  to  have  something  still  left  to  do,  while  we 
had  the  satisfaction  of  being  the  first  to  set  foot  on 
this,  the  most  imposing  and  mightiest  giant  of  the 
Alps — the  'inaccessible'  Mont  Cervin. — Vacation 
TouristSj  1860. 


1859]      THEKJIOMETMC   STATION   ON    MONT   BLANC.  6.1 


rv. 

THEBMOMETEIG  STATION  ON  MONT 
BLANC. 

The  thermometers  referred  to  at  p.  17  were  placed 
on  Mont  Blanc  in  1859.  I  had  proposed  to  the 
Royal  Society  some  time  previously^  to  establish 
a  series  of  stations  between  the  top  and  bottom  of 
the  mountain,  and  the  council  of  the  society  was 
kind  enough  to  give  me  its  countenance  and  aid  in 
the  imdertaking.  At  Chamouni  I  had  a  number  of 
wooden  piles  shod  with  iron.  The  one  intended  for 
the  summit  was  twelve  feet  long  and  three  inches 
square ;  the  others,  each  ten  feet  long,  were  in- 
tended for  five  stations  between  the  top  of  the 
mountain  and  the  bottom  of  the  Glacier  de  Bossons. 
Each  post  was  furnished  with  a  small  cross-piece,  to 
v/hich  a  horizontal  minimum  thermometer  might 
he  attached.  Six-and-twenty  porters  were  found 
necessary  to  carry  all  the  apparatus  to  the  Grands 
Mulcts,  whence  fourteen  of  them  were  immediately 
sent  back.  The  other  twelve,  with  one  exception, 
reached  the  summit,  whence  six  of  them  were  sent 


54  HOURS   OF    EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [186» 

back.  Six  therefore  remained.  In  addition  to 
these  we  had  three  guides,  Auguste  Balmat  being 
the  principal  one ;  these,  with  Dr.  Frankland  and 
myself,  made  up  eleven  persons  in  all.  Though  the 
main  object  of  the  expedition  was  to  plant  the  posts 
and  fix  the  thermometers,  I  was  very  anxious  to 
make  some  observations  on  the  transparency  of  the 
lower  strata  of  the  atmosphere  to  the  solar  heat- 
rays.  I  therefore  arranged  a  series  of  observations 
with  the  Abbe  Veuillet,  of  Chamouni ;  he  was  to 
operate  in  the  valley,  while  I  observed  at  the 
top.  Our  instruments  were  of  the  same  kind;  in 
this  way  I  hoped  to  determine  the  influence  of  the 
stratum  of  air  interposed  between  the  top  and  bottom 
of  the  mountain  upon  the  solar  radiation. 

Wishing  to  commence  the  observations  at  day- 
break, I  had  a  tent  carried  to  the  summit,  where  I 
proposed  to  spend  the  night.  The  tent  was  ten  feet 
in  diameter,  and  into  it  the  whole  eleven  of  us  were 
packed.  The  north  wind  blew  rather  fiercely  over 
the  summit,  but  we  dropped  down  a  few  yards  to 
leeward,  and  thus  found  shelter.  Throughout  the 
night  we  did  not  suffer  at  all  from  cold,  though  we 
had  no  fire,  and  the  adjacent  snow  was  15°  Cent., 
or  27°  Fahr.,  below  the  freezing  point  of  water. 
We  were  all  however  indisposed.  I  was  indeed  very 
unwell  when  I  quitted  Chamouni ;  but  had  I  fal- 
tered my  party  would  have  melted  away.     I  had 


1859]      THERMOMETRIC  STATION   ON   MONT   BLANC.  55 

frequently  cast  off  illness  on  previous  occasions,  and 
hoped  to  do  so  now.  But  in  this  I  was  unsuccess- 
ful ;  my  illness  was  more  deep-rooted  than  ordinary, 
and  it  augmented  during'the  entire  period  of  the 
ascent.  Towards  morning,  however,  I  became 
stronger,  while  with  some  of  my  companions  the 
reverse  was  the  case.  At  daybreak  the  wind  in- 
creased in  force,  and  as  the  fine  snow  was  perfectly 
dry,  it  was  driven  over  us  in  clouds.  Had  no  other 
obstacle  existed,  this  alone  would  have  been  suffi- 
cient to  render  the  observations  on  solar  radiation 
impossible.  We  were  therefore  obliged  to  limit 
ourselves  to  the  principal  object  of  the  expedition — 
the  erection  of  the  post  for  the  thermometers.  It 
was  sunk  six  feet  in  the  snow,  while  the  remaining 
six  feet  were  exposed  to  the  air.  A  minimum 
thermometer  was  screwed  firmly  on  to  the  cross- 
piece  of  the  post;  a  maximimi  thermometer  was 
screwed  on  beneath  this,  and  under  this  again  a  wet 
and  dry  bulb  thermometer.  Two  minimum  thermo- 
meters were  also  placed  in  the  snow — one  at  a 
depth  of  six,  and  the  other  at  a  depth  of  four  feet 
below  the  surface — these  being  intended  to  give 
some  information  as  to  the  depth  to  which  the 
winter  cold  penetrates.  At  each  of  the  other 
stations  we  placed  a  minimum  thermometer  in  the 
ice  or  snow,  and  a  maximum  and  a  minimum  in  the 
air. 


56  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1859 

The  stations  were  as  follows : — The  smmnitj  the 
Corridor,  the  Grand  Plateau,  the  glacier  near  the 
Crrands  Mulets,  and  two  additional  ones  between  the 
Grrands  Mulcts  and  the  end  of  the  Glacier  de  Bos- 
sons.  We  took  up  some  rockets,  to  see  whether  the 
ascensional  power,  or  the  combustion,  was  affected 
by  the  rarity  of  the  air.  During  the  night,  how- 
ever, we  were  enveloped  in  a  dense  mist,  which 
defeated  our  purpose.  One  rocket  was  sent  up 
which  (though  we  did  not  know  it)  penetrated  the 
mist,  and  was  seen  at  Chamouni.  Lecomte's  experi- 
ments on  the  alleged  influence  of  light  and  rare- 
faction in  retarding  combustion  caused  me  to  resolve 
on  making  a  series  of  experiments  on  JNIont  Blanc. 
Dr.  Frankland  was  kind  enough  to  undertake  their 
execution.  Six  candles  were  chosen  at  Chamouni, 
and  carefully  weighed.  All  of  them  were  permitted 
to  bum  for  one  hour  at  the  top,  and  were  again 
weighed  when  we  returned  to  Chamouni.  They 
were  afterwards  permitted  to  bum  an  hour  below. 
Eejecting  one  candle,  which  gave  a  somewhat 
anomalous  result,  we  found  that  the  quantity  con- 
sumed above  was,  within  the  limits  of  error,  the 
same  as  that  consumed  at  the  bottom.  This  result 
surprised  us  all  the  more,  inasmuch  as  the  UgJit  of 
the  candles  appeared  to  be  much  feebler  at  the  top 
than  at  the  bottom  of  the  mountain. 

The  explosion  of  a  pistol  was  sensibly  weaker  at 


1859]      THERMOMETRIC   STATION   ON   MONT   BLANC.  57 

the  top  than  at  a  low  level.  The  shortness  of  the 
sound  was  remarkable ;  but  it  bore  no  resemblance 
to  the  sound  of  a  cracker,  to  which  in  acoustic 
treatises  it  is  usually  compared.  It  resembled  more 
the  sound  produced  by  the  expulsion  of  a  cork  from 
a  champagne-bottle,  but  it  was  much  louder.  The 
sunrise  from  the  summit  was  singularly  magnificent. 
The  snow  on  the  shaded  flanks  of  the  mountain  was 
of  a  pure  blue,  being  illuminated  solely  by  the 
reflected  light  of  the  sky ;  the  summit  of  the  moun- 
tain, on  the  contrary,  was  crimson,  being  illuminated 
by  transmitted  light.  The  contrast  of  both  was  finer 
than  I  can  describe. 

About  twenty  hours  were  spent  upon  the  top  of 
Mont  Blanc  on  this  occasion.  Had  I  been  better 
satisfied  with  the  conduct  of  the  guides,  it  would 
have  given  me  pleasure  at  the  time  to  dwell  upon  this 
out-of-the-way  episode  in  mountain  life.  But  a  tem- 
per, new  to  me,  and  which  I  thought  looked  very  like 
mutiny,  showed  itself  on  the  part  of  some  of  my  men. 
Its  manifestation  was  slight,  I  must  say,  in  most 
cases,  and  conspicuous  only  in  one.  Regrets  and 
apologies  followed,  and  due  allowance  ought  to  be 
made  for  the  perfectly  novel  position  in  which  the 
men  found  themselves.  The  awe  of  entire  strange- 
ness is  very  powerful  in  some  minds ;  and  to  my 
companions  the  notion  of  spending  a  night  at  the 
top  of  Mont  Blanc  was  passing  strange.     The  thing 


68  HOUBS  OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1869 

had  never  been  attempted  previously,  nor  has  the 
experiment  been  repeated  since. 

As  stated  at  p.  17,  I  made  an  attempt  during 
the  execrable  weather  of  1860  to  reach  the  top,  but 
was  driven  down  after  a  delay  of  twenty  hours  at  the 
Grands  Mulcts.  The  same  weather  destroyed  the 
lower  stations.  In  1861,  though  the  cross  still 
remained  at  the  top,  the  thermometers  exhibited 
broken  columns  and  were  worthless  for  observation. 

I  may  add,  in  conclusion,  that  the  lowest  tempera- 
ture at  the  summit  of  the  Jardin  during  the  winter 
of  1858  was  21°  Cent,  below  zero.  In  1859  I  vainly 
endeavoured  to  find  a  thermometer  which  had  been 
placed  in  the  snow  upon  the  summit  of  Mont  Blanc 
a  year  previously. 


1861]  A   LETTER   FEOM   BALE.  59 


V. 


From  a  little  book  called  'Mountaineering  in  1861,' 
published  nine  years  ago,  but  long  since  out  of 
print,  I  will  now  make  a  few  selections.  The  moun- 
tain work  of  that  year  embraced  the  ascent  of  the 
Weisshom,  and  the  passage  of  the  barrier  between 
the  Cima  di  Jazzi  and  Monte  Eosa  by  an  untried 
and  dangerous  route.  Both  these  expeditions  are 
described.  But,  besides  these  narratives  of  outward 
action,  I  notice  in  the  book  a  subjective  element, 
consisting  of  the  musings  and  reflections  to  which 
I  often  abandon  myself  when  sauntering  over  easy 
ground,  and  without  which  even  Switzerland  would 
sometimes  be  monotonous  to  me.  It  is  only  from 
the  reader  accustomed  to  similar  reflective  moods 
that  I  expect  acceptance,  or  even  tolerance,  of  these 
musings :  the  man  of  action  will  pass  them  im- 
patiently by.     I  begin  with 

A   LETTER  FROM  BALE. 

'  I  reached  Bale  last  night,  and  now  sit  on  the 
balcony  of  the  "  Three  Kings  "  with  the  Ehine  flash- 
ing below  me.     It  is  silent  here,  but  higher  up,  in 


60  HOUES   OF  EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1861 

passing  the  props  of  a  bridge,  it  breaks  into  foam;  its 
compressed  air -bubbles  burst  like  elastic  springs,  and 
shake  the  air  into  sonorous  vibrations.*  Thus  the 
rude  mechanical  motion  of  the  river  is  converted 
into  music.  The  hammer  of  the  boat-builder  rings 
on  his  plank,  the  leaves  of  the  poplars  rustle  in  the 
breeze,  the  watchdog's  honest  bark  is  heard  in  the 
distance ;  while  from  the  windows  of  the  houses 
along  the  banks  gleam  a  series  of  reflected  suns,  each 
surrounded  by  a  coloured  glory. 

'  Yesterday  I  travelled  from  Paris,  and  the  day  pre- 
vious from  London,  when  the  trail  of  a  spent  storm 
swept  across  the  sea  and  kept  its  anger  awake.  The 
stern  of  our  boat  went  up  and  down,  the  distant 
craft  were  equally  pendulous,  and  the  usual  results 
followed.  Men's  faces  waxed  green,  roses  faded 
from  ladies'  cheeks ;  while  puzzled  children  yelled 
intermittently  in  the  grasp  of  the  demon  which  had 
newly  taken  possession  of  them.  One  rare  pale 
maiden  sat  right  in  the  line  of  the  spray,  and  bore 
the  violence  of  the  ocean  with  the  resignation  of  an 
angel.  A  white  arm  could  be  seen  shining  through 
translucent  muslin,  but  even  against  it  the  brine 
beat  as  if  it  were  a  mere  seaweed.  I  sat  at  rest, 
hovering  fearfully  on  the  verge  of  that  doleful 
region,  whose  bourne  most  of  those  on  board  liad 
already  passed,  thinking  how  directly  materialistio 
'  See  note  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 


1861]  A   LETTER   FROM   bIlE.  61 

is  the  tendency  of  sea-sickness,  through  its  remorse- 
less demonstration  of  the  helplessness  of  the  human 
soul  and  will. 

'  The  morning  of  the  1st  of  August  found  me  on 
my  way  from  Paris  to  Bale.  The  sun  was  strong, 
and,  in  addition  to  this  source  of  temperature,  eight 
human  beings,  each  burning  the  slow  fire  which  we 
call  life,  were  cooped  within  the  limits  of  our  compart- 
ment. We  slept,  first  singly,  then  by  groups,  and 
finally  as  a  whole.  Vainly  we  endeavoured  to  ward 
off  the  coming  lethargy.  Thought  gradually  slips 
away  from  its  object,  or  the  object  glides  out  of  the 
nerveless  grasp  of  thought,  and  we  are  conquered  by 
the  heat.  But  what  is  heat,  that  it  should  work  such 
changes  in  moral  and  intellectual  nature  ?  Why 
are  we  unable  to  read  "  Mill's  Logic  "  or  study  the 
"  Kritik  der  reinen  Vernunft  "  with  any  profit  in  a 
Turkish  bath  ?  Heat,  defined  without  reference  to 
our  sensations,  is  a  kind  of  motion,  as  strictly 
mechanical  as  the  waves  of  the  sea,  or  as  the  aerial 
vibrations  which  produce  sound.  The  communica- 
tion of  this  motion  to  the  molecules  of  the  brain 
produces  the  moral  and  intellectual  effects  just  re- 
ferred to.  Human  action  is  only  possible  within  a 
narrow  zone  of  temperature.  Transgress  the  limit 
on  one  side,  and  we  are  torpid  by  excess ;  transgress 
it  on  the  other,  and  we  are  torpid  by  defect.  The 
intellect  is  in  some  sense  a  function  of  temperature. 
4 


62  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1861 

Thus  at  noon  we  were  drained  of  intellectual 
energy  ;  eigtt  hours  later  the  mind  was  awake  and 
active,  and  through  her  operations  was  shed  that 
feeling  of  earnestness  and  awe  which  the  mystery  of 
the  starry  heavens  ever  inspires.  Physically  con- 
sidered, however,  the  intellect  of  noon  diflEered  from 
that  of  8  P.M.  simply  in  the  amount  of  motion  pos- 
sessed by  the  molecules  of  the  brain. 

.  '  It  is  not  levity  which  prompts  me  to  write  thus. 
Matter,  in  relation  to  vital  phenomena,  has  yet  to  be 
studied,  and  the  command  of  Canute  to  the  waves 
would  be  wisdom  itself  compared  with  any  attempt 
to  stop  such  enquiries.  Let  the  tide  rise,  and  let 
knowledge  advance ;  the  limits  of  the  one  are  not 
more  rigidly  fixed  than  those  of  the  other  ;  and  no 
worse  infidelity  could  seize  upon  the  mind  than  the 
belief  that  a  man's  earnest  search  after  truth  should 
culminate  in  his  perdition.' 

The  sun  was  high  in  heaven  as  we  rolled  away 
from  Bale  on  the  morning  of  the  2nd.  Sooner  or 
later  every  intellectual  canker  disappears  before 
earnest  work,  the  influence  of  which,  moreover, 
fills  a  wide  margin  beyond  the  time  of  its  actual 
performance.  Thus,  to-day,  I  sang  as  I  rolled 
along — not  witli  boisterous  glee,  but  with  serene 
and  deep-lying  gladness  of  heart.  This  happiness, 
however,  had  its  roots  in  the  past,  and  had  I  not 
been  a  worker  previous  to  my  release  from  London, 


1861]  A    LETTER   FROM   BALE.  63 

I  could  not  now  have  been  so  glad  an  idler.  In 
any  other  country  than  Switzerland  the  valley 
through  which  we  sped  would  have  called  forth  ad- 
miration and  delight.  Noble  fells,  proudly  grouped, 
flanked  us  right  and  left.  Cloud-like  woods  of  pines 
overspread  them  in  broad  patches,  with  between 
them  spaces  of  the  tenderest  green,  while  among  the 
meadows  at  their  feet  gleamed  the  rushing  Rhine. 

The  zenith  was  blue,  but  the  thick  stratum  of 
horizontal  air  invested  the  snowy  peaks  with  a  veil 
of  translucent  haze,  through  which  their  vast  and 
spectral  outlines  were  clearly  seen.  As  we  rolled 
on  towards  Thun  the  haze  thickened,  while  dense 
and  rounded  clouds  burst  upwards,  as  if  let  loose 
from  a  prison  behind  the  mountains.  Soon  after- 
wards the  black  haze  and  blacker  clouds  resolved 
themselves  into  a  thunderstorm.  The  air  was  cut 
repeatedly  by  zigzag  bars  of  solid  light.  Then 
came  the  cannonade,  and  then  the  heavy  rain-pellets 
rattling  with  fury  against  the  carriages.  It  after- 
wards cleared,  but  not  wholly.  Stormy  cumuli 
swept  round  the  mountains,  between  which,  how- 
ever, the  illuminated  ridges  seemed  to  swim  in  the 
opalescent  air. 

At  Thun  I  found  my  faithful  and  favourite  guide, 
Johann  Bennen,  of  Laax,  in  the  valley  of  the  Rhone, 
the  strongest  limb  and  stoutest  heart  of  my  acquaint- 
ance in  the  Alps.   We  took  the  steamer  to  Interlaken, 


64  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN   THE    ALPS.  [I861 

and  while  we  were  on  the  lake  the  heavens  again 
darkened,  and  the  deck  was  flooded  by  the  gush- 
ing rain.  The  dusky  cloud-curtain  was  rent  at 
intervals,  and  througli  the  apertures  thus  formed 
parallel  bars  of  extraordinary  radiance  escaped  across 
the  lake.  On  reaching  Interlaken  I  drove  to  the 
steamer  on  the  lake  of  Brientz.  We  started  at  6 
P.M.,  with  a  purified  atmosphere,  and  passed  through 
scenes  of  serene  beauty  in  the  tranquil  evening  light. 
The  bridge  of  Brientz  had  been  carried  away  by 
the  floods,  the  mail  was  intercepted,  and  I  joined  a 
young  Oxford  man  in  a  vehicle  to  Meyringen.  The 
west  wind  again  filled  the  atmosphere  with  gloom, 
and  after  supper  I  spent  an  hour  watching  the 
lightning  thrilling  behind  the  clouds.  The  darkness 
was  intense,  and  the  intermittent  glare  corespond- 
ingly  impressive.  Sometimes  the  lightning  seemed 
to  burst,  like  a  fireball,  midway  between  the  horizon 
and  the  zenith,  spreading  a  vast  glory  behind  the 
clouds  and  revealing  all  their  outlines.  In  front  of 
me  was  a  craggy  summit,  which  indulged  in  inter- 
mittent shots  of  thunder;  sharp,  dry,  and  sudden, 
with  scarcely  an  echo  to  soften  them  ofi". 


65 


NOTE  ON  THE  SOUND  OF  AGITATED  WATER. 

A  LIQUID  veia  descending  through  a  round  hole  in  the 
bottom  of  a  tin  vessel  exhibits  two  distinct  portions,  the 
one  steady  and  limpid,  the  other  unsteady  and  apparently 
turbid.  The  flash  of  an  electric  spark  in  a  dark  room 
instantly  resolves  the  turbid  portion  into  isolated  drops. 
Experiments  made  in  1849  with  such  a  jet  directed  my 
attention  to  the  origin  of  the  sound  of  agitated  water. 
When  the  smoke  is  projected  from  the  lips  of  a  tobacco- 
smoker,  a  little  explosion'  usually  occurs,  which  is  chiefly 
due  to  the  sudden  bursting  of  the  film  of  saliva  connecting 
both  lips.  An  inflated  bladder  bursts  with  an  explosion 
as  loud  as  a  pistol-shot.  Sound  to  some  extent  always 
accompanies  the  sudden  liberation  of  compressed  air,  and 
this  fact  is  also  exhibited  in  the  deportment  of  a  water- 
jet.  If  the  surface  of  water  into  which  the  jet  falls  intersect 
its  limpid  portion,  the  jet  enters  silently,  and  no  bubbles 
are  produced.  If  the  surface  cut  the  turbid  portion  of  the 
jet,  bubbles  make  their  appearance  with  an  accompaniment 
of  sound.  The  very  nature  of  the  sound  pronounces  its 
origin  to  be  the  bursting  of  the  bubbles ;  and  to  the  same 
cause  the  murmur  of  streams  and  the  sound  of  breakers 
appear  to  be  almost  exclusively  due.  The  impact  of  water 
against  water  is  a  comparatively  subordinate  cause  of  the 
sound,  and  could  never  of  itself  occasion  the  '  babble  '  of  a 
brook  or  the  musical  roar  of  the  ocean. — Philosophical 
Magazine,  February  1857. 


66  IIOUKS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE    ALPS.  TlSSl 


VI. 

THE   URBACHTHAL  AND   GAULI  GLACIER. 

Our  bivouac  at  Meyringen  was  le  Sauvage,  who 
discharged  his  duty  as  a  host  with  credit  to  himself 
and  with  satisfaction  to  us.  Forster  (the  statesman) 
arrived,  and  in  the  afternoon  of  the  3rd  we  walked 
up  the  valley,  with  the  view  of  spending  the  night  at 
Hof.  Between  Meyringen  and  Hof,  the  vale  of  Hasli 
is  crossed  by  a  transverse  ridge  called  the  Kirchet, 
and  the  barrier  is  at  one  place  split  through,  form- 
ing a  deep  chasm  with  vertical  sides  through  which 
plunges  the  river  Aar.  The  chasm  is  called  the 
Finsteraarschlucht,  and  by  the  ready  hypothesis 
of  an  earthquake  its  formation  has  been  explained. 
Man  longs  for  causes,  and  the  weaker  minds,  unable 
to  restrain  their  longing,  often  barter,  for  the  most 
sorry  theoretic  pottage,  the  truth  which  patient 
enquiry  would  make  their  own.  This  pronencsa  of 
the  human  mind  to  jump  to  conclusions,  and  thus 
shirk  the  labour  of  real  investigation,  is  a  most 
mischievous  tendency.  "We  complain  of  the  con- 
tempt with  which  practical  men  regard  theory,  and, 


861]  THE   URBACHTIIAL   AND   GAULI   GLACIER.  67 

to  confound  them,  triumphantly  exhibit  the  specu- 
lative achievements  of  master  minds.  But  the 
practical  man,  though  puzzled,  remains  uncon- 
vinced ;  and  why  ?  Simply  because  nine  out  of  ten 
of  the  theories  with  which  he  is  acquainted  are  de- 
serving of  nothing  better  than  contempt.  Our  master 
minds  built  their  theoretic  edifices  upon  the  rock  of 
fact,  the  quantity  of  fact  necessary  to  enable  them 
to  divine  the  law  being  a  measure  of  individual 
genius,  and  not  a  test  of  philosophic  system.* 

The  level  plain  of  Hof  lies  above  the  mound  of 
the  Kirchet ;  how  was  this  flat  formed  ?  Is  it  not 
composed  of  the  sediment  of  a  lake  ?  Did  not  the 
Kirchet  form  the  dam  of  this  lake,  a  stream  issuing 
from  the  latter  and  falling  over  the  dam  ?  And  as 
the  sea-waves  find  a  weak  point  in  the  cliffs  against 
which  they  dash,  and  gradually  eat  their  way  so  as 
to  form  caverns  with  high  vertical  sides,  as  at  the 
Land's  End,  a  joint  or  fault  or  some  other  accidental 
weakness  determining  their  line  of  action ;  so  also  a 
mountain  torrent  rushing  for  ages  over  the  same  dam 
would  be  sure  to  cut  itself  a  channel.  The  lake 
after  its  drainage  left  the  basis  of  green  meadows 
as  sediment  behind ;  and  through  these  meadows 
now  flows  the  stream  of  the  Aar.     Imagination  is 

'  This  was  writton  soon  after  Mr.  Buckle's  Eoyal  Institution 
lecture,  which  I  thought  a  piece  of  astonishing  rhetoric,  but  of  very 
unsound  science. 


68  HOUKS   OF    EXERCISE   IN    THE    ALPS.  [1861 

essential  to  the  natural  philosoplier,  but  its  matter 
must  be  facts ;  and  its  function  the  discernment  of 
their  connection. 

We  were  called  at  4  a.m.,  an  hour  later  than  we 
intended,  and  the  sight  of  the  cloudless  mountains 
was  an  inspiration  to  us  all.  At  5.30  a.m.  we  were 
off,  crossing  the  valley  of  Hof,  which  was  hugged 
round  its  margin  by  a  light  and  silky  mist.  We 
ascended  a  spur  which  separated  us  from  the  Ur- 
bachthal,  through  which  our  route  lay.  The  Aar 
for  a  time  babbled  in  the  distance,  until,  on  turning 
a  corner,  its  voice  was  suddenly  qucnclied  by  the 
louder  music  of  the  Urbach,  rendered  mellow  and 
voluminous  by  the  resonance  of  the  chasm  into 
which  the  torrent  leaped.  The  sun  was  already 
strong.  His  yellow  light  glimmered  from  the  fresh 
green  leaves ;  it  smote  with  glory  the  boles  and  the 
plumes  of  the  pines ;  soft  shadows  fell  from  shrub 
and  rock  upon  the  pastures ;  snow-peaks  were  in 
sight,  clifify  summits  also,  without  snow  or  verdure, 
but  in  many  cases  buttressed  by  slopes  of  soil  which 
bore  a  shaggy  growth  of  trees.  To  the  right  of  us 
rose  the  bare  cliffs  of  the  Engclhonier,  broken  at 
the  top  into  claw-shaped  masses  which  were  turned, 
as  if  in  spite,  against  the  serene  heaven.  Bennen 
walked  on  in  front,  a  mass  of  organised  force,  silent, 
but  emitting  at  times  a  wliistle  wliich  sounded  like 
the  piping  of  a  lost  chamois.     In  a  liollow  of  the 


18G1]  THE    CRnACHTlIAL   AND   GAULI    GLACIEK.  69 

Engelhomer  a  mass  of  snow  had  found  a  lodgment ; 
melted  by  the  warm  rock,  its  foundation  was  sapped, 
and  down  it  came  in  a  thundering  cascade.  The 
thick  pinewoods  to  our  right  were  furrowed  by  the 
tracks  of  these  destroyers,  the  very  wind  of  which, 
it  is  affirmed,  tears  up  distant  trees  by  the  roots. 

For  a  time  our  route  lay  through  a  spacious  va  lley, 
which  at  length  turned  to  the  left,  and  narrowed 
to  a  gorge.  Along  its  bottom  the  hissing  river 
rushed ;  this  we  crossed,  climbed  the  wall  of  a  cul 
de  sac,  and  from  its  rim  enjoyed  a  glorious  view. 
The  Urbachthal  has  been  the  scene  of  vast  glacier 
action.  Looking  at  these  charactered  cliffs,  one's 
thoughts  involuntarily  revert  to  the  ancient  days, 
and  we  restore  in  idea  a  state  of  things  which  had 
disappeared  from  the  world  before  the  development 
of  man.  Whence  this  wondrous  power  of  recon- 
struction ?  Was  it  locked  like  latent  heat  in  ancient 
inorganic  nature,  and  developed  as  the  ages  rolled  ? 
Are  other  and  grander  powers  still  latent  in  nature, 
destined  to  blossom  in  another  age  ?  Let  us  ques- 
tion fearlessly,  but,  having  done  so,  let  us  avow 
frankly  that  at  bottom  we  know  nothing ;  that  we 
are  imbedded  in  a  mystery,  towards  the  solution  of 
which  no  whisper  has  been  yet  conceded  to  the 
listening  intellect  of  man. 

The  world  of  life  and  beauty  is  now  retreating, 
and  the  world  of  death  and  beauty  is  at  hand.     We 


70  HOFES   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [I86I 

were  soon  at  the  end  of  the  Gauli  glacier,  from 
which  the  impetuous  Urbach  rushes,  and  turned 
into  a  chalet  for  a  draught  of  milk.  The  Senner 
within  proved  an  extortioner — ^ein  unverschdmter 
Hund ; '  but  let  him  pass.  We  worked  along  the 
flank  of  the  glacier  to  a  point  which  commands  a 
view  of  the  cliflFy  barrier  which  it  is  the  main 
object  of  our  journey  to  pass.  From  a  range  of 
snow-peaks  linked  together  by  ridges  of  black  rock, 
the  Gauli  glacier  falls,  at  first  steeply  as  snow,  then 
more  gently  as  ice.  We  scan  the  mountain  barrier 
to  ascertain  where  it  ought  to  be  attacked.  No  one 
of  us  has  ever  been  here  before,  and  the  scanty 
scraps  of  information  which  we  have  received  tell  us 
that  at  one  place  only  is  the  barrier  passable.  We 
may  reach  the  summit  at  several  points  from  this 
side,  but  all  save  one,  we  are  informed,  lead  to  the 
brink  of  intractable  precipices,  which  fall  sheer  to 
the  Lauteraar  glacier.  We  observe,  discuss,  and 
finally  decide.  We  enter  upon  the  glacier ;  black 
chasms  yawn  here  and  there  through  the  super- 
incumbent snow,  but  there  is  no  real  difficulty. 
We  cross  the  glacier  and  reach  the  opposite  slopes ; 
our  way  first  lies  up  a  moraine,  and  afterwards 
through  the  snow ;  a  laborious  ascent  brings  us 
close  to  the  ridge,  and  here  we  pause  once  more 
in  consultation.  There  is  a  gentle  indentation  to 
our  left,  and  a  cleft  in  the  rocks  to  our  right ;  our 


8«1]    THE  URBACHTHAL  AND  GAULI  GLACIER.     71 

information  points  to  the  cleft,  but  we  decide  in 
favour  of  the  saddle. 

The  winter  snows  were  here  thickly  laid  against 
the  precipitous  crags  ;  the  lower  part  of  the  buttress 
thus  formed  had  broken  away  from  the  upper,  which 
still  clung  to  the  rocks,  the  whole  ridge  being 
thus  defended  by  a  profound  chasm,  called  in 
Switzerland  a  Bergschrund.  At  some  places  por- 
tions of  snow  had  fallen  away  from  the  upper  slope 
and  partially  choked  the  schrund,  closing,  however, 
its  mouth  only,  and  on  this  snow  we  were  now  to 
seek  a  footing.  Bennen  and  myself  were  loose  com- 
ing up ;  Forster  and  his  guide  were  tied  together  ; 
but  now  my  friend  declares  that  we  must  all  be  at- 
tached. "We  accordingly  rope  ourselves,  and  advance 
along  the  edge  of  the  fissure  to  a  place  where  it  is 
partially  stopped.  A  vertical  wall  of  snow  faces  us. 
Our  leader  carefully  treads  down  the  covering  of 
the  chasm  ;  and  having  thus  rendered  it  sufficiently 
rigid  to  stand  upon,  he  cuts  a  deep  gap  with  his 
ice-axe  in  the  opposing  wall.  Into  the  gap  he  tries 
to  force  himself,  but  the  mass  yields,  and  he  falls 
back,  sinking  deeply  in  the  snow  of  the  schrund. 
lie  stands  right  over  the  fissure,  which  is  merely 
bridged  by  the  snow.  I  call  out,  '  Take  care  1 '  lie 
responds,  '  All  right ! '  and  returns  to  the  charge. 
He  hews  a  deeper  and  more  ample  gap ;  strikes  his 
axe  into  the  slope  above  him,  and  loaves  it  there ; 


72  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALTS.  [1881 

buries  his  hands  in  the  yielding  mass,  and  raises  his 
body  on  his  two  arms,  as  on  a  pair  of  pillars.  He 
thus  clears  the  schrund,  and  anchors  his  limbs  in 
the  snow  above.  I  am  speedily  at  his  side,  and  we 
both  tighten  the  rope  as  our  friend  Forster  advances. 
With  perfect  courage  and  a  faultless  head,  he  has 
but  one  disadvantage,  and  that  is  an  excess  of 
weight  of  at  least  two  stone.  In  his  first  attempt 
the  snow-ledge  breaks,  and  he  falls  back ;  but  two 
men  are  now  at  the  rope,  the  tension  of  which, 
aided  by  his  own  activity,  prevents  him  from  sink- 
ing far.  By  a  second  effort  he  clears  the  difficulty, 
is  followed  by  his  guide,  and  all  four  of  us  reach 
the  slope  above  the  chasm.  Its  steepness  was 
greater  than  that  of  a  cathedral  roof,  while  below 
us,  and  within  a  few  yards  of  us,  was  a  chasm  into 
which  it  would  be  certain  death  to  fall.  Education 
enables  us  to  regard  a  position  of  this  kind  almost 
with  indifiference  ;  still  the  work  was  by  no  means 
unexciting.  In  this  early  stage  of  our  summer 
performances,  it  required  perfect  trust  in  our  leader 
to  keep  our  minds  at  ease.  We  reached  the  saddle, 
and  a  cheer  at  the  summit  announced  that  our 
escape  was  secured. 

The  indentation  formed  the  top  of  a  kind  of 
chimney  or  funnel  in  the  rocks,  which  led  right  do'wn. 
to  the  Lauteraar  glacier.  Elated  with  our  success, 
I  released  myself  from  tlie  rope  and  sprang  down 


.861]         THE   URBACHTHAL   AND   GATJLI   GLACIEK.  73 

the  chimney,  preventing  the  descent  from  quicken- 
ing to  an  absolute  fall  by  seizing  at  intervals  the 
projecting  rocks.  Once  an  effort  of  this  kind  shook 
the  alpenstock  from  my  hand ;  it  slid  along  the 
rubbish,  reached  a  snow-slope,  shot  down  it,  and  was 
caught  on  some  shingle  at  the  bottom  of  the  slope. 
Quickly  skirting  the  snow,  which,  without  a  staflF, 
cannot  be  trusted,  I  reached  a  ridge,  from  which  a 
jump  landed  me  on  the  debris :  it  yielded  and  carried 
me  down ;  passing  the  alpenstock  I  seized  it,  and  in 
an  instant  was  master  of  all  my  motions.  Another 
snow-slope  was  reached,  down  which  I  shot  to  the 
rocks  at  the  bottom,  and  there  awaited  the  arrival  of 
my  guide. 

^ye  diverged  from  the  deep  cut  of  the  chimney, 
Bennen  adhering  to  the  rough  rocks,  while  I,  hoping 
to  make  an  easier  descent  through  the  funnel  itself, 
resorted  to  it.  It  was  partially  filled  with  indurated 
snow,  but  underneath  was  a  stream,  and  my  igno- 
rance of  the  thickness  of  the  roof  rendered  caution 
necessary.  At  one  place  the  snow  was  broken  quite 
across,  and  a  dark  tunnel,  through  which  the  stream 
rushed,  opened  immediately  below  me.  My  descent 
being  thus  cut  oflf,  I  crossed  the  couloir  to  the  opposite 
rocks,  climbed  them,  and  found  myself  upon  the  sum- 
mit of  a  lodged  precipice,  below  which  Bennen  stood, 
watching  me  as  I  descended.  On  one  of  the  ledges 
my  foot  slipped ;  a  most  melancholy  whine  issued 


74  HOURS   OF  EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1861 

from  my  guide,  as  he  suddenly  moved  towards  me ; 
but  the  slip  in  no  way  compromised  me ;  I  reached 
the  next  ledge,  and  in  a  moment  was  clear  of  the 
difficulty.  We  dropped  down  the  mountain  to- 
gether, quitted  the  rocks,  and  reached  the  glacier, 
where  we  were  soon  joined  by  Forster  and  his  com- 
panion. Turning  round,  we  espied  a  herd  of  seven 
chamois  on  one  of  the  distant  slopes  of  snow. 
The  telescope  reduced  them  to  five  full-grown 
animals  and  two  pretty  little  kids.  The  day  was 
fading  and  the  deeper  glacier  pools  were  shaded  by 
their  icy  banks.  Through  the  shadowed  water 
needles  of  ice  were  darting  :  all  day  long  the  mole- 
cules had  been  kept  asunder  by  the  antagonistic 
heat;  their  enemy  is  now  withdrawn,  and  they 
lock  themselves  together  in  a  crystalline  embrace. 
Through  a  reach  of  merciless  shingle,  which  covers 
the  lower  part  of  the  glacier,  we  worked  our  way ; 
then  over  green  pastures  and  rounded  rocks,  to  the 
Grimsel  Hotel,  which,  uncomfortable  as  it  is,  waa 
reached  with  pleasure  by  us  all. 


1861]         THE   GEIMSEL   AND   THE  JSGGISCHHOBN.  75 


VII. 

THE    GRIMSEL  AND   THE  ^GGISCHHOHN. 

This  Grrimsel  is  a  weird  region — a  monument  carved 
with  hieroglyphics  more  ancient  and  more  grand 
than  those  of  Nineveh  or  the  Nile.  It  is  a  world 
disinterred  by  the  smi  from  a  sepulchre  of  ice.  All 
around  are  evidences  of  the  existence  and  the  might 
of  the  glaciers  which  once  held  possession  of  the  place. 
All  around  the  rocks  are  carved,  and  fluted,  and 
polished,  and  scored.  Here  and  there  angular  pieces 
of  quartz,  held  fast  by  the  ice,  inserted  their  edges 
into  the  rocks  and  scratched  them  like  diamonds, 
the  scratches  varying  in  depth  and  width  according 
to  the  magnitude  of  the  cutting  stone.  Larger 
masses,  held  similarly  captive,  scooped  longitudinal 
depressions  in  the  rocks  over  which  they  passed, 
while  in  many  cases  the  polishing  must  have  been 
eflfected  by  the  ice  itself.  A  raindrop  will  wear  a 
stone  away;  much  more  would  an  ice  surface, 
fiqueezed  into  perfect  contact  by  enormous  pressure, 
rub  away  the  asperities  of  the  rocks  over  which  fol 


76  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN    THE    ALPS.  [1861 

ages  it  was  forced  to  slide.  The  rocks  thus  polished 
by  the  ice  itself  are  so  exceedingly  smooth  and 
slippery  that  it  is  impossible  to  stand  on  them  where 
their  inclination  is  at  all  considerable.  But  what  a 
world  it  must  have  been  when  the  valleys  were  thus 
filled  I  "We  can  restore  the  state  of  things  in 
thought,  and  in  doing  so  we  submerge  many  a  mass 
which  now  lifts  its  pinnacle  skyward.  Switzerland 
in  those  days  could  not  be  so  grand  as  it  is  now. 
Pour  ice  into  those  valleys  till  they  are  filled,  and 
you  eliminate  those  contrasts  of  height  and  depth 
on  which  the  grandeur  of  Alpine  scenery  depends. 
Instead  of  skiey  pinnacles  and  deep-cut  gorges  we 
should  have  an  icy  sea  dotted  with  dreary  islands 
formed  by  the  highest  mountain-tops. 

In  the  afternoon  I  strolled  up  to  the  Siedelhom. 
As  I  stood  upon  the  broken  summit  of  the  mountain 
the  air  was  without  a  cloud  ;  and  the  sunbeams  fell 
directly  against  the  crown  and  slopes  of  the 
Galenstock  at  the  base  of  which  lay  the  glacier  of 
the  Khone.  The  level  sea  of  neve  above  the  great 
ice-cascade,  the  fall  itself,  and  the  terminal  glacier 
below  the  fall  were  all  apparently  at  hand.  At  the 
base  of  the  fall  the  ice  undergoes  an  extraordinary 
transformation  ;  it  reaches  this  place  more  or  less 
amorphous,  it  quits  it  most  beautifully  laminated, 
the  change  being  due  to  the  pressure  endured  at 
the    bottom   of  the   fall.     The    wrinkling   of  the 


861]  THE   GRIMSEL   AKD   THE  ^GGISCHHOIIN.  77 

glacier  here  was  quite  visible,  the  dwindling  of  the 
wrinkles  into  bands,  and  the  subdivision  of  these 
bands  into  lines  which  mark  the  edges  of  the 
laminae  of  which  the  glacier  at  this  place  is  made 
up.  Beyond,  amid  the  mountains  at  the  opposite 
side  of  the  Ehone  valley,  lay  the  Gries  glacier,  half 
its  snow  in  shadow,  and  half  illuminated  by  the 
sinking  sun.  Round  farther  to  the  right  were  the 
Monte  Leone  and  other  grand  masses,  the  grandest 
here  being  tke  Mischabel  with  its  crowd  of  snowy 
cones.  Jumping  a  gap  in  the  mountains,  we  hit 
the  stupendous  cone  of  the  Weisshom,  which  slopes 
to  meet  the  inclines  of  the  Mischabel,  and  in  the 
wedge  of  space  carved  out  between  the  two  the 
Matterhorn  lifts  its  terrible  head. 

Wheeling  farther  in  the  same  direction,  we  at 
length  strike  the  mighty  spurs  of  the  Finsteraarhom, 
between  two  of  which  lies  the  Oberaar  glacier.  Here 
is  no  turmoil  of  crevasses,  no  fantastic  ice-pinnacles, 
nothing  to  indicate  the  operation  of  those  tremen- 
dous forces  by  which  a  glacier  sometimes  rends  its 
own  breast.  The  grimmest  giant  of  the  Ober- 
land  closes  the  view  at  the  head  of  the  Lauteraar 
glacier — the  Schreckhorn,  whose  cliffs  on  this  side 
no  mountaineer  will  ever  scale.  Between  the 
Schreckhorn  and  Finsteraarhom  a  curious  group  of 
peaks  encircle  a  flat  snow-field,  from  which  the 
Bunbeams  are  flung  in  blazing  lines.     Immediately 


78  HOUES  OF  EIEECISE   IN   THE   ALTS.  Ll8«» 

below  is  the  Unteraar  glacier,  with  a  long  black 
streak  upon  its  back,  bent  hither  and  thither,  like  a 
serpent  wriggling  down  the  valley.  Beyond  it  and 
flanking  it  is  a  ridge  of  mountains  with  a  crest  of 
vertical  rock,  hacked  into  indentations  which  sug- 
gest a  resemblance  to  a  cock's  comb.  To  the  very 
root  of  the  comb  the  mountains  have  been  planed 
by  the  ancient  ice. 

A  scene  of  unspeakable  desolation  it  must  have 
been  when  not  Switzerland  alone,  but  all  Europe, 
was  thus  encased  in  frozen  armour — when  a  glacier 
from  Ben  Nevis  dammed  the  mouth  of  Grlenroy,  and 
Llanberis  and  Borrodale  were  ploughed  by  frozen 
shares  sent  down  by  Snowdon  and  Scawfell — when 
from  the  Eeeks  of  Magillicuddy  came  the  navigators 
which  dug  out  space  for  the  Killarney  lakes,  and 
carved  through  the  mountains  the  Gap  of  Dunloe.' 
Evening  came,  and  I  moved  downwards,  over  heaped 
boulders  and  tufted  alp ;  down  with  headlong  speed 
over  the  rounded  rocks  of  the  Grimsel,  making  long 
springs  at  intervals,  over  the  polished  inclines,  and 
reaching  the  hospice  as  the  bell  rings  its  inmates  to 
their  evening  meal. 

On  Saturday  I  ascended  from  Vicsch  to  the 
Hotel  Jungfrau  on  the  slope  of  the  ^ggischhorn, 
and  in  the  evening  walked  up  to  the  summit  of  the 
mountain  alone     As  usual,  I  wandered  unconsciously 

•  See  chapter  on  'Killarney,'  p.  413. 


1861]  THE    GRIMSEL    AND    THE   JEGGISCHHOKN.  79 

from  the  beaten  track,  getting  into  a  chaos  of  crags 
which  had  been  shaken  from  the  heights.  My 
ascent  was  quick,  and  I  soon  found  myself  upon 
the  crest  of  broken  rocks  which  caps  the  mountain. 
The  peak  and  those  adjacent,  which  are  similarly 
shattered,  exhibit  a  striking  picture  of  the  ruin  which 
nature  inflicts  upon  her  own  creations.  She  build- 
eth  up  and  taketh  down.  She  lifts  the  mountains 
by  her  subterranean  energies,  and  then  blasts  them 
by  her  lightnings  and  her  frost.  Thus  grandly 
she  rushes  along  the  '  grooves  of  change '  to  her 
unattainable  repose.  Is  it  unattainable  ?  The 
incessant  tendency  of  material  forces  is  toward  final 
equilibrium  ;  and  if  the  quantity  of  this  tendency 
be  finite,  a  time  of  repose  must  come  at  last.  If 
one  portion  of  the  universe  be  hotter  than  another, 
a  flux  instantly  sets  in  to  equalise  the  temperatures ; 
while  winds  blow  and  rivers  roll  in  search  of  a  stable 
equilibrium.  Matter  longs  for  rest ;  when  is  this 
longing  to  be  fully  satisfied?  If  satisfied,  what 
then  ?  Eest  is  not  perfection  ;  it  is  death.  Life  is 
only  compatible  with  mutation  ;  when  equilibrium 
sets  in  life  ceases,  and  the  world  thenceforward  is 
locked  in  everlasting  sleep. 

A  wooden  cross  bleached  by  many  storms  sur- 
mounts the  pinnacle  of  the  jlEggischhorn,  and  at 
the  base  of  it  I  now  take  my  place  and  scan  the 
BUT   mnding   scene.     Down   from  its  birthplace  in 


80  HOURS  OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1801 

the  mountains  comes  that  noblest  of  ice-streams  the 
Great  Aletsch  glacier.  Its  arms  are  thrown  round 
the  shoulders  of  the  .Tungfrau,  while  from  the  Monk 
and  the  Trugberg,  the  Gletscherhorn,  the  Breithom, 
the  Aletschhom,  and  many  another  noble  pile,  the 
tributary  snows  descend  and  thicken  into  ice.  The 
mountains  are  well  protected  by  their  wintry  coats, 
and  hence  the  quantity  of  debris  upon  the  glacier  is 
comparatively  small ;  still,  along  it  can  be  noticed 
dark  longitudinal  streaks,  which  are  incipient 
moraines.  Eight  and  left  from  these  longitudinal 
bands  sweep  finer  curves,  twisted  here  and  there 
into  complex  windings,  which  mark  the  lamination 
of  the  subjacent  ice.  The  glacier  lies  in  a  curved 
valley,  the  side  towards  which  its  convex  curvatui'e 
is  tm'ned  is  thrown  into  a  state  of  strain,  the  ice 
breaks  across  the  line  of  tension,  a  curious  system  of 
oblique  glacier  ravines  being  thus  produced.  From 
the  snow-line  which  crosses  the  glacier  above  the 
Faulberg  a  pure  snow-field  stretches  upward  to  the 
Col  de  la  Jungfrau,  which  unites  the  Maiden  to  the 
Monk.  Skies  and  summits  are  to-day  without  a 
cloud,  and  no  mist  or  turbidity  interferes  with  the 
sharpness  of  the  outlines.  Jungfrau,  Monk,  Eiger, 
Trugberg,  cliffy  Strahlgrat,  stately,  lady-like  Aletsch- 
hom, all  grandly  pierce  the  empyrean.  Like  a  Saul  of 
jnountains,  the  Finsteraarhorn  overtops  all  his  neigh- 
bours J  then  we  have  the  Oberaarhorn,  with  the  riveu 


1861]  THE   GRIMSEL   AND   THE   iEGGISCHflOIlN.  81 

glacier  of  Viesch  rolling  from  bis  shoulders.  Below  is 
the  Marjelin  See,  with  its  crystal  precipices  and  its 
floating  icebergs,  snowy  white,  sailing  on  a  blue- 
green  sea.  Beyond  is  the  range  which  divides  the 
Valais  from  Italy.  Sweeping  round,  the  vision 
meets  an  aggregate  of  peaks  which  look,  as  fledg- 
lings to  their  mother,  towards  the  mighty  Dom. 
Then  come  the  repellent  crags  of  Mont  Cervin,  the 
idea  of  moral  savagery,  of  wild  untameable  ferocity, 
mingling  involuntarily  with  our  contemplation  of 
the  gloomy  pile.  Next  comes  an  object  scarcely  less 
grand,  conveying  it  may  be  even  a  deeper  impression 
of  majesty  and  might  than  the  Matterhorn  itself — 
the  Weisshorn,  perhaps  the  most  splendid  object  in 
the  Alps.  But  beauty  is  associated  with  its  force, 
and  we  think  of  it,  not  as  cruel,  but  as  grand  and 
strong.  Further  to  the  right  is  the  Great  Combin ; 
other  peaks  crowd  around  him,  while  at  the  extre- 
mity of  the  curve  along  which  the  gaze  has  swept 
rises  the  sovran  crown  of  Mont  Blanc.  And  now, 
as  the  day  sinks,  scrolls  of  pearly  clouds  form  around 
the  mountain-crests,  and  are  wafted  from  them  into 
the  distant  air.  They  are  without  colour  of  any 
kind ;  but  their  grace  of  form  and  lustre  are  not  to 
be  described. 


82  HOURS   OF    EXERCISE   IN   THE    ALPS. 


NOTE   ON   CLOUDS. 

It  is  well  known  that  when  a  receiver  filled  with  ordinal  y 
undried  air  is  exhausted,  a  cloudiness,  due  to  tlie  precipi- 
tation of  the  aqueous  vapour  diffused  in  tlie  air,  is  produced 
by  the  first  few  strokes  of  the  pump.  It  is,  as  might  be 
expected,  possible  to  produce  clouds  in  this  way  with  the 
vapours  of  other  liquids  than  water. 

In  the  course  of  some  experiments  on  the  chemical 
action  of  light  on  vapours  which  have  been  communicated 
to  the  Eoyal  Society,  I  had  frequent  occasion  to  observe 
the  precipitation  of  such  clouds  ;  indeed,  several  days  at  a 
time  have  been  devoted  solely  to  the  generation  and  exami- 
nation of  clouds  formed  by  the  sudden  dilatation  of  mixec 
air  and  vapours  in  the  experimental  tubes. 

The  clouds  were  generated  in  two  ways :  one  mode 
consisted  in  opening  the  passage  between  the  filled  experi- 
mental tube  and  the  air-pump,  and  then  simply  dilating 
the  air  by  working  the  pump.  In  the  other,  the  experi- 
mental tube  was  connected  with  a  vessel  of  suiUible  size, 
the  passage  between  which  and  the  experimental  tube  could 
be  closed  by  a  stopcock.  This  vessel  was  first  exhausted  ; 
on  turning  the  cock  the  air  rushed  from  the  experimental 
tube  into  the  vessel,  the  precipitation  of  a  cloud  Avitliin  the 
tube  being  a  consequence  of  the  transfer.  Instead  of  a 
special  vessel,  the  cylinders  of  the  air-pump  itself  were 
usually  employed  for  this  purpose. 

It  was  found  possible,  by  shutting  off  the  residue  of  air 
and  vapour  after  each  act  of  precipitation,  and  again  ex- 
hausting the  cylinders  of  the  pump,  to  obtain  with  some 


Los  A"ge>es^^* 

NOTE   ON   CLOUDS.  83 

Bubstances,  and  without  refilling  the  experimental  tube, 
fifteen  or  twenty  clouds  in  succession. 

The  clouds  thus  precipitated  diflfered  from  each  other  in 
luminous  energy,  some  shedding  forth  a  mild  white  light, 
others  flashing  out  with  sudden  and  surprising  brilliancy. 
This  difierence  of  action  is,  of  course,  to  be  referred  to  the 
diflferent  reflective  energies  of  the  particles  of  the  clouds, 
which  were  produced  by  substances  of  very  different  re- 
fractive indices. 

Different  clouds,  moreover,  possess  very  different  degrees 
of  stability  :  some  melt  away  rapidly,  while  others  linger  for 
minutes  in  the  experimental  tube,  resting,  as  they  slowly 
dissolve,  upon  its  bottom  like  a  heap  of  snow.  The  particles 
of  other  clouds  are  trailed  through  the  experimental  tube 
as  if  they  were  moving  through  a  viscous  medium. 

Nothing  can  exceed  the  splendour  of  the  diffraction 
phenomena  exhibited  by  some  of  these  clouds ;  the  colours 
are  best  seen  by  looking  along  the  experimental  tube  from 
a  point  above  it,  the  face  being  turned  towards  the  source 
of  illumination.  The  differential  motions  introduced  by 
friction  against  the  interior  surface  of  the  tube  often  cause 
the  colours  to  arrange  themselves  in  distinct  layers. 

The  difference  in  texture  exhibited  by  different  clouds 
caused  me  to  look  a  little  more  closely  than  I  had  previously 
done  into  the  mechanism  of  cloud-formation.  A  certain 
expansion  is  necessary  to  bring  down  the  cloud ;  the 
moment  just  before  precipitation  the  cooling  air  and 
vapour  may  be  regarded  as  divided  into  a  number  of  poly- 
hedra,  the  particles  along  the  bounding  surfaces  of  which 
move  in  opposite  directions  when  precipitation  actually  sets 
in.  Every  cloud-particle  has  consumed  a  polyhedron  of 
vapour  in  its  formation  ;  and  it  is  manifest  that  the  size  of 
the  particle  must  depend,  not  only  on  the  size  of  thevapoui 


84  HOUKS   OF    EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS. 

polyhedron,  but  a.so  on  the  relation  of  the  density  of  the 
vapour  to  that  of  its  liquid.  If  the  vapour  were  light,  and 
the  liquid  heavy,  other  things  being  equal,  the  cloud- 
particle  would  be  smaller  than  if  the  vapour  were  heavy 
and  the  liquid  light.  There  would  evidently  be  more 
shrinkage  in  the  one  case  than  in  the  other ;  these  con- 
siderations were  found  valid  throughout  the  experiments  ; 
the  case  of  toluol  may  be  taken  as  representative  of  a  great 
number  of  others.  The  specific  gravity  of  this  liquid  is 
0*85,  that  of  water  being  unity  ;  the  specific  gravity  of  its 
vapour  is  3'2G,  that  of  aqueous  vapour  being  0"6.  Now, 
as  the  size  of  the  cloud -particle  is  directly  proportional  to 
the  specific  gravity  of  the  vapour,  and  inversely  propor- 
tional to  the  specific  gravity  of  the  liquid,  an  easy  calcula- 
tion proves  that,  assuming  the  size  of  the  vapour  polyhedra 
in  both  cases  to  be  the  same,  the  size  of  the  particle  of 
toluol  cloud  must  be  more  than  six  times  that  of  the 
particle  of  aqueous  cloud.  It  is  probably  impossible 
to  test  this  question  with  numerical  accuracy  ;  but  the 
comparative  coarseness  of  the  toluol  cloud  is  strikingly 
manifest  to  the  naked  eye.  The  case  is,  as  I  have 
said,  representative. 

In  fact,  aqueous  vapour  is  without  a  parallel  in  these 
particulars ;  it  is  not  only  tlie  lightest  of  all  vapours,  in 
the  common  acceptation  of  that  term,  but  the  lightest  of 
all  gases  except  hydrogen  and  ammonia.  To  this  circum- 
stance the  soft  and  tender  beauty  of  the  clouds  of  our 
atmosphere  is  mainly  to  be  ascribed. 

The  sphericitr/  of  the  cloud-particles  may  be  immediately 
inferred  from  their  dcj)ortmcnt  under  the  luminous  beams. 
The  light  which  they  shed  Avlien  spherical  is  eoniiinious  : 
but  clouds  may  also  be  precipitated  in  solid  flakes;  and 
then  the  incessant  sparkling  of  the  cloud  shows  tliat  ita 


NOTE   ON   CLOUDS.  85 

particles  are  plates,  and  not  spheres.  Some  portions  of  the 
same  cloud  may  be  composed  of  spherical  particles,  others 
offtakes,  the  difference  being  at  once  manifested  through 
the  calmness  of  the  one  portion  of  the  cloud,  and  the 
uneasiness  of  the  other.  The  sparkling  of  such  flakes 
reminded  me  of  the  plates  of  mica  in  the  River  Rhone  at  its 
entrance  into  the  Lake  of  Geneva  when  shone  upon  by  a 
strong  sun. — Proceedings  of  the  Eoyal  Society,  vol.  xvii. 
p.  317. 

Clouds  are  so  often  referred  to  in  these  pages  that 
I  thought  it  might  be  of  interest  to  note  the  latest 
remarks  on  their  formation. 


86  nouns  of  exercise  in  the  alps.  [i861 


VIII. 
THE  BEL  ALP, 

On  Tuesday  tlie  13tli  I  accompanied  a  party  of 
friends  to  the  Marjelin  See,  skirted  the  lake,  struck 
in  upon  the  glacier,  and  having  heard  much  of  the 
position  and  the  comfort  of  a  new  hotel  upon  the 
Bel  Alp,  I  resolved  to  descend  the  glacier  and  pay 
the  place  a  visit.  The  Valais  range  had  been 
covered  before  we  quitted  the  iEggischhom ;  and, 
though  the  sun  rode  unimpeded  in  the  higher  heavens, 
vast  masses  of  cloud  continued  to  thrust  themselves 
forth  like  tree-branches  into  the  upper  air. 

The  clouds  extended,  becoming  ever  blacker,  until 
finally  they  were  unlocked  by  thunder,  and  shook 
themselves  down  upon  us  in  furious  rain.  The 
glacier  is  here  cut  up  into  oblique  valleys  of  ice, 
subdivided  by  sharp-edged  crevasses.  We  advanced 
swiftly  along  the  ridges,  but  these  finally  abutted 
against  the  mountain,  and  we  were  compelled  to  cross 
from  ridge  to  ridge.  Hirst  followed  Bennen,  and  I 
♦.rusted  to  my  own  devices.  Joyously  we  struck  our 
axes  into  the  crumbling  crests,  and  made  our  way 


1861]  THE  BEL  ALP.  87 

rapidly  between  the  chasms.  The  sunshine  gushed 
down  upon  us,  and  partially  dried  our  drenched 
clothes.  At  some  distance  to  our  left  we  observed 
upon  the  ice  a  group  of  persons,  consisting  of  two 
men,  a  boy,  and  an  old  woman,  engaged  beside  a 
crevasse ;  a  thrill  of  horror  shot  through  me,  at 
the  thought  of  a  man  being  possibly  between  its 
jaws.  We  quickly  joined  them,  and  found  an  unfor- 
tunate cow  firmly  jammed  between  the  frozen  sides 
of  the  fissure,  and  groaning  piteously.  The  ~  men 
seemed  very  helpless  ;  their  means  were  inadequate, 
and  their  efforts  ill-directed.  '  Grive  the  brute  space, 
cut  away  the  ice  which  presses  the  ribs,  and  you  step 
upon  that  block  which  stops  the  chasm,  and  apply 
your  shoulders  to  the  creature's  buttocks.'  The  ice 
splinters  fly  aloft,  under  the  vigorous  strokes  of 
Bennen.  Hirst  suggests  that  a  rope  sliould  be  passed 
round  the  horns,  so  as  to  enable  all  hands  to  join  in 
the  pull.  This  is  done.  Another  rope  is  passed  be- 
tween the  hind  legs.  Bennen  has  loosened  the  ice 
which  held  the  ribs  in  bondage,  and  now,  like  mari- 
ners heaving  an  anchor,  we  all  join  in  a  tug,  timing 
our  efforts  by  an  appropriate  exclamation.  The 
weight  moves,  but  extremely  little ;  again  the  cry, 
and  again  the  heave — it  moves  a  little  more.  This 
is  repeated  several  times  till  the  fore-legs  are  extri- 
cated and  thrown  forward  on  the  ice.  We  now  lift 
the  hinder  parts,  and  succeed  in  placing  the  animal 


88  HOURS  OF  EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1861 

upon  the  glacier,  panting  and  trembling  all  over. 
Folding  our  rope,  we  went  onward.  The  day  again 
darkened.  Again  the  thunder  rang,  being  now  pre- 
ceded by  lightning,  which  was  thrown  into  my  eyes 
from  the  polished  surface  of  my  axe.  Flash  followed 
flash  and  peal  succeeded  peal  with  terrific  grandeur, 
and  the  loaded  clouds  sent  down  from  all  their 
fringes  dusky  streamers  of  rain.  They  looked  like 
waterspouts,  so  dense  was  their  texture.  Furious  as 
was  the  descending  shower,  hard  as  we  were  hit  by  the 
mixed  pellets  of  ice  and  water,  I  enjoyed  the  scene. 
Grrandly  the  cloud-besom  swept  the  mountains,  their 
colossal  outlines  looming  at  intervals  like  over- 
powered Titans  struggling  against  their  doom. 

The  glacier  becoming  impracticable  through  cre- 
vasses, we  retreated  to  its  eastern  shore,  and  got  along 
the  lateral  moraine.  It  was  rough  work.  The  slope  to 
our  left  was  partially  clothed  with  spectral  pines. 
Storms  had  stripped  the  trunks  of  their  branches, 
and  the  branches  of  their  leaves,  leaving  the  tree- 
wrecks  behind,  as  if  spirit-stricken  and  accursed. 
Our  home  is  now  in  sight,  perched  upon  the  summit 
of  a  bluff  opposite.  We  passed  swiftly  over  the 
ridges  towards  our  destination.  Wet  and  thirsty,  we 
reached  the  opposite  side,  and,  striking  into  a  beaten 
track,  finally  reached  the  pleasant  auberge  at  which 
our  journey  ends. 

From  the  hotel  on  the  slope  of  ^ggischhorn  an 


1861]  THE   BEL   ALP.  89 

hour's  ascent  is  required  to  place  you  in  presence  of 
the  magnificent  view  from  the  summit.  But  the 
very  windows  of  the  hotel  upon  the  Bel  Alp  command 
noble  views,  and  you  may  sit  upon  the  bilberry 
slopes  adjacent  before  the  grandest  of  mountain 
scenes.  On  the  14th  I  went  down  to  the  savage 
gorge  in  which  the  Aletsch  glacier  ends.  A  pine 
tree  stood  sheer  over  it ;  bending  its  trunk  at  a  right 
angle  near  its  root,  and  grasping  a  rock  with  its  root, 
it  supported  itself  above  the  chasm.  Standing  upon 
the  horizontal  part  of  the  tree,  I  hugged  its  upright 
stem,  and  looked  down  into  the  gorge.  It  required 
several  minutes  to  chase  away  my  timidity,  and 
as  the  wind  blew  more  forcibly  against  me,  I  clung 
with  greater  fixity  to  the  tree.  In  this  wild  spot, 
and  alone,  I  watched  the  dying  fires  of  the  day,  until 
the  latest  glow  had  vanished  from  the  mountains. 

Above  the  Bel  Alpj  and  two  hours  distant,  is 
the  grey  pinnacle  of  the  Sparrenhom.  I  went  up 
there  on  the  15th.  To  the  observer  from  the 
hotel  it  appears  as  an  isolated  peak ;  but  it  forms 
the  lofty  end  of  a  narrow  ridge,  which  is  torn 
into  ruins  by  the  weather.  At  a  distance  in  front  of 
me  was  a  rocky  promontory  like  the  Abschwung, 
right  and  left  of  which  descended  two  streams  of  ice, 
which  welded  themselves  to  a  common  trunk  glacier. 
The  scene  was  perfectly  unexpected  and  strikingly 
beautiful.     Nowhere  have  I  seen  more  perfect  repose, 


90  HOUKS   OF  EXERCISE   IN  THE   ALPS.  [1861 

nowhere  more  tender  curves  or  finer  structural  lines. 
The  stripes  of  the  moraine  bending  along  the  glacier 
contribute  to  its  beauty,  and  its  deep  seclusion  gives 
it  a  peculiar  charm.  It  seems  a  river  so  protected 
by  its  bounding  mountains  that  no  storm  can  ever 
reach  it,  and  no  billow  disturb  the  perfect  serenity 
of  its  rest.  The  sweep  of  the  Aletsch  glacier  is  also 
mighty  as  viewed  from  this  point,  and  from  no 
other  could  the  Valais  range  seem  more  majestic. 
It  is  needless  to  say  a  word  about  the  grandeur  of 
the  Dom,  the  Cervin,  and  the  Weisshom,  all  of  which, 
and  a  great  deal  more,  are  commanded  from  the 
Sparrenhom. 


THE  WKIS8U0KN   FROM  THE   RIFFEL. 


18«1]  THE  WEISSHOBN.  91 


IX. 

THE   WEISSHORN. 

On  Friday  the  16th  of  August  I  rose  at  4.30 ;  the 
eastern  heaven  was  hot  with  tne  glow  of  the  rising 
sun,  and  against  it  were  drawn  the  mountain  outlines. 
At  5.30  I  bade  good-bye  to  the  excellent  little  au- 
berge  of  the  Bel  Alp,'  and  went  straight  down  the 
mountain  to  Briegg,  took  the  diligence  to  Visp,  and 
engaged  a  porter  immediately  to  Eanda.  I  had  sent 
Bennen  thither  to  inspect  the  Weisshorn.  On  my 
arrival  I  learned  that  he  had  made  the  necessary 
reconnaissance,  and  entertained  hopes  of  our  being 
able  to  gain  the  top. 

This  noble  mountain,  which  is  fourteen  thousand 
eight  hundred  feet  high,  had  been  tried  on  various 
occasions  and  from  different  sides  by  brave  and 
competent  climbers,  but  all  efforts  had  been  hitherto 
unavailing. 

Previous  to  quitting  Eanda  to  assail  this  formid- 
able peak  I  had  two  pairs  of  rugs  sewed  together  so 
as  to  form  two  sacks.  These  and  other  coverlets, 
'  Now  a  substantial  hotel  which  merits  encouragement. 


92  nOUKS  OF  EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1861 

together  with  our  wine  and  provisions,  were  sent  on 
in  advance  of  us.  At  1  p.m.  on  the  18th  of  August 
Bennen,  "Wenger,  and  myself  quitted  the  hotel,  and 
were  soon  zigzagging  among  the  pines  of  the  opposite 
mountain.  Wenger  had  been  the  guide  of  my  friend 
Forster,  and  had  shown  himself  so  active  and  handy 
on  the  Strahleck  that  I  commissioned  Bennen  to 
engage  him.  During  the  previous  night  I  had  been 
very  unwell,  and  as  I  climbed  the  slope  I  suffered 
from  intense  thirst.  Water  seemed  powerless  to 
quench  the  desire  for  drink.  We  reached  a  chalet, 
and  at  our  request  a  smart  young  Senner  caught  up 
a  pail,  and  soon  returned  with  it  full  of  delicious 
milk.  The  effect  of  the  milk  was  astonishing.  It 
seemed  to  lubricate  every  atom  of  my  body,  and  to 
exhilarate  with  its  fragrance  my  brain. 

Two  hours'  additional  climbing  brought  us  to  our 
bivouac,  a  ledge  of  rock  which  jutted  from  the  moun- 
tain-side, and  formed  an  overhanging  roof.  On 
removing  the  stones  from  beneath  the  ledge,  a  space 
of  comparatively  dry  clay  was  laid  bare.  This  was 
to  be  my  bed,  and  to  soften  it  Wenger  considerately 
stirred  it  up  with  his  axe.  The  position  was  ex- 
cellent, for  lying  upon  my  left  side  I  commanded  the 
whole  range  of  Monte  Rosa,  from  the  Mischabel  to 
the  Breithorn.  We  were  on  the  edge  of  an  amphi- 
theatre. Beyond  the  Schallenbach  was  the  stately 
Mettelhom.     A  row  of  eminences  swept  round  to  the 


:8«ll  TUB   WEISSHOKN.  93 

right  linked  by  lofty  ridges  of  cliflfs,  wliich  embraced 
the  Schallenberg  glacier.  They  formed,  however, 
only  a  spur  of  the  vaster  Weisshom,  the  cone  of  which 
was  not  visible  from  our  dormitory.  In  company 
with  Bennen  I  afterwards  skirted  the  mountain  until 
the  whole  colossal  pyramid  stood  facing  us.  When 
I  first  looked  at  it  my  hopes  sank,  but  both  of  us 
gathered  confidence  from  a  more  lengthened  gaze. 
The  mountain  is  a  pyramid  with  three  faces,  the  in- 
tersections of  which  form  three  sharp  edges  or  aretes. 
The  end  of  the  eastern  ridge  was  nearest  to  us,  and 
on  it  our  attention  was  principally  fixed.  We  finally 
decided  on  the  route  to  be  pursued  next  morning, 
and  with  a  chastened  hope  in  both  our  breasts  we 
returned  to  our  shelter. 

Water  was  our  first  necessity  :  it  seemed  every- 
where, but  there  was  none  to  drink.  It  was  locked 
to  solidity  in  the  ice  and  snow.  The  sound  of  it 
came  booming  up  from  the  Vispbach,  as  it  broke  into 
foam  or  rolled  its  boulders  over  its  waterwom  bed  ; 
and  the  swish  of  many  a  minor  streamlet  mingled 
with  the  muffled  roar  of  the  large  one.  Bennen  set 
out  in  search  of  the  precious  liquid,  and  after  a  long 
absence  returned  with  a  jug  and  pan  full.  At  our 
meal,  Wenger,  who  is  a  man  rich  in  small  expedients, 
turned  the  section  of  a  cheese  towards  the  flame  of  our 
pine  fire  ;  it  fizzed  and  blistered  and  turned  viscous, 
and,  the  toasted  surface  being  removed,  was  consumed 


94  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1861 

with  relish  by  us  all.  The  sunset  had  been  un- 
speakably grand,  steeping  the  zenith  in  violet,  and 
flooding  the  base  of  the  heavens  with  crimson  light. 
Immediately  opposite  to  us  rose  the  Mischabel,  with 
its  two  great  peaks,  the  Grubenhorn  and  the  Tasch- 
horn,  each  barely  under  15,000  feet  in  height. 
Next  came  the  Alphubel,  with  its  flattened  croAvn  of 
snow ;  then  the  AUaleinhom  and  Eympfischhom ; 
then  the  Cima  di  Jazzi ;  next  the  mass  of  Monte 
Rosa,  flooded  with  light  from  bottom  to  top.  The 
face  of  the  Lyskamm  turned  towards  us  was  for  the 
most  part  shaded,  but  here  and  there  its  projecting 
portions  jutted  forth  red  hot  as  the  light  fell  upon 
them  The  '  Twins '  were  most  singularly  illumin- 
ated ;  across  the  waist  of  each  of  them  was  drawn  a 
black  bar,  produced  by  the  shadow  of  a  corner  of  the 
Breithom,  while  their  bases  and  crowns  were  exposed 
to  the  crimson  light.  Over  the  rugged  face  of  the 
Breithom  itself  the  light  fell  as  if  in  splashes,  ig- 
niting its  glaciers  and  swathing  its  black  crags  in  a 
layer  of  transparent  red.  Tlie  Mettelhorn  was  cold, 
so  was  the  entire  range  governed  by  the  Weisshom, 
while  the  glaciers  they  embraced  lay  grey  and 
ghastly  in  the  twilight  shade. 

The  sunlight  lingered,  while  up  the  arch  of  the 
opposite  heavens  the  moon,  within  one  day  of  being 
full,  seemed  hastening  to  our  aid.  She  finally  ap- 
peared exactly  behind  the  peak  of  the  Eympfischhom, 


1861]  THE  WEISSHORN.  95 

the  cone  of  the  mountain  being  projected  for  a  short 
time  as  a  triangle  on  the  lunar  disc.  Only  for  a 
short  time,  however ;  the  silver  sphere  soon  cleared 
the  mountain,  and  bore  away  through  the  tinted  sky. 
The  motion  was  quite  visible,  and  resembled  that  of 
a  vast  balloon.  As  the  day  approached  its  end  the 
scene  assumed  the  most  sublime  aspect.  All  the 
lower  portions  of  the  mountains  were  deeply  shaded, 
while  the  loftiest  peaks,  ranged  upon  a  semicircle, 
were  fully  exposed  to  tlie  sinking  sun.  They  seemed 
pyramids  of  solid  fire,  while  here  and  there  long 
stretches  of  crimson  light  drawn  over  the  higher 
snow-fields  linked  the  summits  together.  An  in- 
tensely illuminated  geranium  flower  seems  to  swim 
in  its  own  colour,  which  apparently  surrounds  the 
petals  like  a  layer,  and  defeats  by  its  lustre  any  at- 
tempt of  the  eye  to  seize  upon  the  sharp  outline  of 
the  leaves.  A  similar  effect  was  here  observed  upon 
the  mountains  ;  the  glory  did  not  seem  to  come  from 
them  alone,  but  seemed  also  effluent  from  the  air 
around  them.  As  the  evening  advanced,  the  eastern 
heavens  low  down  assumed  a  deep  purple  hue, 
above  which,  and  blending  with  it  by  infinitesimal 
gradations,  was  a  belt  of  red,  and  over  this  again 
zones  of  orange  and  violet.  I  walked  round  the 
corner  of  the  mountain  at  sunset,  and  found  the 
western  sky  glowing  with  a  more  transparent  crimson 
than  that  which  overspread  the  east.     The  crown  of 


B6  HOUBS   OF   EXERCISE   IN    THE    ALPS.  LI86I 

the  Weisshorn  was  imbedded  in  this  magnificent 
light.  After  sunset  the  purple  of  the  east  changed 
to  a  deep  neutral  tint,  and  against  the  faded  red 
which  spread  above  it  the  sun-forsaken  mountains 
laid  their  cold  and  ghastly  heads.  The  ruddy  colour 
vanished  more  and  more  }  the  stars  strengthened  in 
lustre,  imtil  finally  the  moon  and  they  held  undis- 
puted possession  of  the  sky. 

My  face  was  turned  towards  the  moon  until  it 
became  so  chilled  that  I  was  forced  to  protect  it  by 
a  light  handkerchief.  The  power  of  blinding  the 
eyes  is  ascribed  to  the  moonbeams,  but  the  real 
mischief  is  that  produced  by  radiation  from  the  eyes 
into  clear  space,  and  the  inflammation  consequent 
upon  the  chill.  As  the  cold  increased  I  was  fain  to 
squeeze  myself  more  and  more  underneath  the  ledge, 
so  as  to  lessen  the  space  of  sky  against  which  my 
body  could  radiate.  Nothing  could  be  more  solemn 
than  the  night.  Up  from  the  valley  came  the  low 
tliunder  of  the  Vispbach.  Over  the  Dom  flashed  in 
succession  the  stars  of  Orion,  until  finally  the  entire 
constellation  hung  aloft.  Higher  up  in  heaven  was 
the  moon,  and  her  beams  as  they  fell  upon  the  snow- 
fields  and  pyramids  were  sent  back  in  silvery  lustre 
by  some,  while  others  remained  a  dead  white.  These, 
as  the  earth  twirled  round,  came  duly  in  for  their 
share  of  the  glory.  The  Twins  caught  it  at  length 
and  retained  it  long,  shining  with  a  pure  spiritual 
radiance,  while  the  moon  continued  above  the  hills. 


1861]  THE  WEISSHORN.  97 

At  twelve  o'clock  I  looked  at  my  watch,  and  a 
Becord  time  at  2  a.m.  The  moon  was  then  just 
touching  the  crest  of  the  Schallenberg,  and  we  were 
threatened  with  the  withdrawal  of  her  light.  This 
soon  occurred.  "We  rose  at  2^  a.m.,  consumed  our 
coffee,  and  had  to  wait  idly  for  the  dawn.  A  faint 
illumination  at  length  overspread  the  sky,  and  with 
this  promise  of  the  coming  day  we  quitted  our 
bivouac  at  3^  a.m.  No  cloud  was  to  be  seen ;  as  far 
as  the  weather  was  concerned  we  were  sure  to  have 
fair  play.  We  rounded  the  shingly  shoulder  of  the 
mountain  to  the  edge  of  a  snow-field,  but  before 
entering  upon  it  I  disburthened  myself  of  my  strong 
shooting  jacket,  leaving  it  on  the  mountain-side. 
The  sunbeams  and  my  own  exertion  would,  I  knew, 
keep  me  only  too  warm  during  the  day.  We  crossed 
the  snow,  cut  our  way  through  a  piece  of  entangled 
glacier,  reached  the  Bergschrund,  and  passed  it 
without  a  rope.  We  ascended  the  frozen  snow  of  the 
couloir  by  steps,  but  soon  diverged  from  it  to  the 
rocks  at  our  right,  and  mounted  them  to  the  end  of 
the  eastern  arete  of  the  mountain. 

A  snow  saddle  separated  us  from  the  higher  rocks. 
With  our  staff-pikes  at  one  side  of  the  saddle,  we 
pass  by  steps  cut  upon  the  other.  We  find  the 
rocks  hewn  into  fantastic  turrets  and  obelisks,  while 
the  loose  chips  of  this  sculpture  are  strewn  con- 
fusedly upon  the  ridge.     Amid  these  we  cautiously 


98  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1861 

pick  our  way,  winding  round  the  towers  or  scaling 
them  amain.  The  work  was  heavy  from  the  first, 
the  bending,  twisting,  reaching,  and  drawing  up 
calling  upon  all  the  muscles  of  the  frame.  After 
two  hours  of  this  work  we  halted,  and,  looking  back, 
saw  two  moving  objects  on  the  glacier  below  us. 
At  first  we  took  them  to  be  chamois,  but  they  were 
men.  The  leader  carried  an  axe,  and  his  companion 
a  knapsack  and  an  alpenstock.  They  followed  our 
traces,  losing  them  apparently  now  and  then,  and 
waiting  to  recover  them.  Our  expedition  had  put 
Randa  in  a  state  of  excitement,  and  some  of  its  best 
climbers  had  urged  Bennen  to  take  them  with  him. 
This  he  did  not  deem  necessary,  and  now  here  were 
two  of  them  determined  to  try  the  thing  on  their 
own  account,  and  perhaps  to  dispute  with  us  the 
honour  of  the  enterprise.  On  this  point,  however, 
our  uneasiness  was  small. 

Resuming  our  gymnastics,  the  rocky  staircase  led 
us  to  the  flat  summit  of  a  tower,  where  we  found 
ourselves  cut  off  from  a  similar  tower  by  a  deep  gap 
bitten  into  the  mountain.  The  rope  was  here  our 
refuge.  Bennen  coiled  it  round  his  waist;  we  let 
him  down  along  the  surface  of  the  rock,  until  he 
fixed  himself  on  a  ledge,  where  he  could  lend  me  a 
helping  hand.  I  followed  liim,  and  Wenger  followed 
me.  By  a  kind  of  screw  motion  we  twisted  ourselves 
round  the  opposite   tower,   and  reached  the   ridge 


1861]  THE  WEISSHORN.  99 

behind  it.  Work  of  this  kind,  however,  is  not  to  be 
performed  by  the  day,  and,  with  a  view  of  sparing 
our  strength,  we  quitted  the  ridge  and  endeavoured 
to  get  along  the  southern  slope  of  the  pyramid. 
The  mountain  was  scarred  by  long  couloirs,  filled 
with  clear  hard  ice.  The  cutting  of  steps  across 
these  couloirs  proved  to  be  so  tedious  and  fatiguing 
that  I  urged  Bennen  to  abandon  them  and  try  the 
ridge  once  more.  We  regained  it  and  worked 
along  it  as  before.  Here  and  there  upon  the 
northern  side  the  snow  was  folded  over,  and  we 
worked  slowly  upward  along  the  cornice  snow. 
The  ridge  became  gradually  narrower,  and  the 
precipices  on  each  side  more  sheer.  We  reached 
the  end  of  one  of  its  subdivisions,  and  found  our- 
selves separated  from  the  next  rocks  by  a  gap  about 
twenty  yards  across.  The  ridge  has  here  narrowed 
to  a  mere  wall,  which,  however,  as  rock,  would  pre- 
sent no  serious  difficulty.  But  upon  the  wall  of 
rock  was  placed  a  second  wall  of  snow,  which 
dwindled  to  a  pure  knife-edge  at  the  top.  It 
was  white,  of  very  fine  grain,  and  a  little  moist. 
How  to  pass  this  snow  catenary  I  knew  not,  for  I 
did  not  think  a  human  foot  could  trust  itself  upon 
so  frail  a  support.  Bennen's  practical  sagacity, 
nowever,  came  into  play.  He  tried  the  snow  by 
squeezing  it  with  his  foot,  and  to  my  astonishment 
began  to  cross  it.    Even  after  the  pressure  of  his  feet 


100  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  •    [1861 

the  space  he  had  to  stand  on  did  not  exceed  a  hand- 
breadth.  I  followed  him,  exactly  as  a  boy  walking 
along  a  horizontal  pole,  with  toes  turned  outwards. 
Right  and  left  the  precipices  were  appalling.  We 
reached  the  opposite  rock,  and  an  earnest  smile 
rippled  over  Bennen's  coimtenance  as  he  turned 
towards  me.  He  knew  that  he  had  done  a  daring 
thing,  though  not  a  presumptuous  one.  '  Had  the 
snow,'  he  said,  '  been  less  perfect,  I  should  not  have 
thought  of  attempting  it ;  but  I  knew  after  I  had 
Bet  my  foot  upon  the  ridge  that  we  might  pass 
without  fear.' 

It  is  quite  surprising  what  a  number  of  things 
the  simple  observation  made  by  Faraday  in  1846 
enables  us  to  explain.  Bennen's  instinctive  act  is 
justified  by  theory.  The  snow  was  fine  in  grain, 
pure,  and  moist.  When  pressed,  the  attachments  of 
its  granules  were  innumerable,  and  their  perfect 
cleanness  enabled  them  to  freeze  together  with  a 
maximum  energy.  It  was  this  freezing  which  gave 
the  mass  its  sustaining  power. 

Two  fragments  of  ordinary  table  ice  brought 
carefully  together  freeze  and  cement  themselves 
at  their  place  of  junction;  or  if  two  pieces  floating 
in  water  be  brought  together,  they  instantly  freeze, 
and  by  laying  hold  of  either  of  them  gently  you 
can  drag  the  other  after  it  through  the  water. 
Imagine  such  points  of  attachment  distributed  in 


1861]  THE   WEl:iSnORN.  101 

great  nuinbers  through  a  mass  of  snow.  The  sub- 
etance  becomes  thereby  a  semi-solid  instead  of  a 
mass  of  powder.  My  guide,  however,  unaided  by 
any  theory,  did  a  thing  from  which  I  should  have 
shrunk,  though  backed  by  all  the  theories  in  the 
world. 

After  this  we  found  the  rocks  on  the  ridge  so 
shaken  that  it  required  the  greatest  caution  to 
avoid  bringing  them  down  upon  us.  With  all  our 
care,  moreover,  we  sometimes  dislodged  vast  masses, 
which  leaped  upon  the  slope  adjacent,  loosened 
others  by  their  shock,  these  again  others,  until 
finally  a  whole  flight  of  them  would  escape,  setting 
the  mountain  in  a  roar  as  they  whizzed  and  thun- 
dered along  its  side  to  the  snow-fields  4,000  feet 
below  us.  The  day  was  hot,  the  work  hard,  and 
our  bodies  were  drained  of  their  liquids  as  by  a 
Turkish  bath.  To  make  good  our  loss  we  halted 
at  intervals  where  the  melted  snow  formed  liquid 
veins,  and  quenched  our  thirst.  A  bottle  of  cham- 
pagne, poured  sparingly  into  our  goblets  over  a  little 
snow,  furnished  Wenger  and  myself  with  many  a 
refreshing  draught.  Bennen  feared  his  eyes,  and 
would  not  touch  champagne.  We,  however,  did  not 
find  halting  good  ;  for  at  every  pause  the  muscles 
became  set,  and  some  minutes  were  necessary  to 
render  them  again  elastic.  But  for  both  mind  and 
body  the  discipline  was  grand.     There  is  scarcely  a 


102  nOUKS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE    ALPS.  [1861 

position  possible  to  a  human  being  which,  at  one 
time  or  another  during  the  day,  I  was  not  forced  to 
assume.  The  fingers,  -wrist,  and  forearm  were  my 
main  reliance,  and  as  a  mechanical  instrument  the 
human  hand  appeared  to  me  this  day  to  be  a  miracle 
of  constructive  art. 

For  the  most  part  the  summit  was  hidden  from 
us,  but  on  reaching  the  successive  eminences  it  came 
frequently  into  view.  After  three  hours  spent  on 
the  arete — about  five  hours,  that  is,  subsequent  to 
starting — we  saw  the  summit  over  another  minor 
summit,  which  gave  it  an  illusive  proximity.  '  You 
have  now  good  hopes,'  I  remarked,  turning  to  Bennen. 
*I  do  not  allow  myself  to  entertain  the  idea  of 
failure,'  he  replied.  Well,  six  hours  passed  on  the 
ridge,  each  of  which  put  in  its  inexorable  claim  to 
the  due  amount  of  mechanical  work ;  and  at  the  end 
of  this  time  we  foimd  ourselves  apparently  no  nearer 
to  the  summit  than  when  Bennen's  hopes  cropped  out 
in  confidence.  I  looked  anxiously  at  my  guide  as 
he  fixed  his  weary  eyes  upon  the  distant  peak. 
There  was  no  confidence  in  his  expression ;  still  I 
do  not  believe  that  either  of  us  entertained  for  a 
moment  the  thought  of  giving  in.  Wenger  com- 
plained of  his  lungs,  and  Bennen  counselled  him 
several  times  to  remain  behind ;  but  this  the  Ober- 
land  man  refused  to  do.  At  the  commencement  of 
a  day's  work  one  often  feels  anxious,  if  not  timic* ; 


-861]  THE  WEISSHORN.  103 

but  when  the  work  is  very  hard  we  become  callous 
and  sometimes  stupefied  by  the  incessant  knocking 
about.  This  was  my  case  at  present,  and  I  kept 
watch  lest  my  indifference  should  become  careless- 
ness. I  repeatedly  supposed  a  case  where  a  sudden 
effort  might  be  required  of  me,  and  felt  all  through 
that  I  had  a  fair  residue  of  strength  to  fall  back  upon 
should  such  a  call  be  made.  This  conclusion  was 
sometimes  tested  by  a  spurt ;  flinging  myself  sud- 
denly from  rock  to  rock,  I  proved  my  condition  by 
experiment  instead  of  relying  on  surmise.  An 
eminence  in  the  ridge  which  cut  off  the  view  of  the 
summit  was  now  the  object  of  our  exertions.  We 
reached  it ;  but  how  hopelessly  distant  did  the 
summit  appear  I  Bennen  laid  his  face  upon  his 
axe  for  a  moment ;  a  kind  of  sickly  despair  was  in 
his  eye  as  he  turned  to  me,  remarking,  'Lieber 
Herr,  die  Spitze  ist  noch  sehr  weit  oben.' 

Lest  the  desire  to  gratify  me  should  urge  him 
beyond  the  bounds  of  prudence,  I  told  my  guide 
that  he  must  not  persist  on  my  account ;  that  I 
should  cheerfully  retiirn  with  him  the  moment  he 
thought  it  no  longer  safe  to  proceed.  He  replied 
that,  though  weary,  he  felt  quite  sure  of  himself,  and 
asked  for  some  food.  He  had  it,  and  a  gulp  of  wine, 
which  mightily  refreshed  him.  Looking  at  the 
mountain  with  a  firmer  eye,  he  exclaimed,  '  Herr ! 
wir  miissen  ihn  haben,'  and  his  voice,  as  he  spoke, 


104  HOURS    OF    EXERCISE   IN    THE    ALPS.  [1861 

rung  like  steel  within  my  heart.  I  thought  of 
Englishmen  in  battle,  of  the  qualities  which  had 
made  them  famous :  it  was  mainly  the  quality  of  not 
knowing  when  to  yield — of  fighting  for  duty  even 
after  they  had  ceased  to  be  animated  by  hope. 
Such  thoughts  helped  to  lift  me  over  the  rocks. 
Another  eminence  now  fronted  us,  behind  which, 
how  far  we  knew  not,  the  summit  lay.  We  scaled 
this  height,  and  above  us,  but  clearly  within  reach, 
a  silvery  pyramid  projected  itself  against  the  blue 
sky.  I  was  assured  ten  times  over  by  my  companions 
that  it  was  the  highest  point  before  I  ventured  to 
stake  my  faith  upon  the  assertion.  I  feared  that  it 
also  might  take  rank  with  the  illusions  which  had  so 
often  beset  our  ascent,  and  I  shrunk  from  the  conse- 
quent moral  shock.  A  huge  prism  of  granite,  or 
granitic  gneiss,  terminated  the  arete,  and  from  it 
a  knife-edge  of  pure  white  snow  ran  up  to  a  little 
point.  "We  passed  along  the  edge,  reached  that 
point,  and  instantly  swept  with  our  eyes  the  whole 
range  of  the  horizon.  We  stood  upon  the  crown  of 
the  redoubtable  Weisshorn. 

The  long-pent  feelings  of  my  two  companions 
found  vent  in  a  wild  and  reiterated  cheer.  Bennen 
rihook  his  arms  in  the  air  and  shouted  as  a  Valaisian, 
while  Wenger  raised  the  shriller  yell  of  the  Oberland. 
We  looked  downwards  along  the  ridge,  and  far  below, 
perched  on  one  of  its  crags,  could  discern  the  two 


1861]  THE  WEISSHOKN.  105 

Randa  men.  Again  and  again  the  roar  of  triumph 
was  sent  down  to  them.  They  had  accomplished 
but  a  small  portion  of  the  ridge,  and  soon  after  our 
success  they  wended  their  way  homewards.  They 
came,  willing  enough,  no  doubt,  to  publish  our 
failure  had  we  failed ;  but  we  found  out  afterwards 
that  they  had  been  equally  strenuous  in  announcing 
our  success ;  they  had  seen  us,  they  affirmed,  like 
three  flies  upon  the  summit  of  the  mountain.  Both 
men  had  to  endure  a  little  persecution  for  the  truth's 
sake,  for  nobody  in  Eanda  would  believe  that  the 
Weisshorn  could  be  scaled,  and  least  of  all  by  a  man 
who  for  two  days  previously  had  been  the  object  of 
Philomene  the  waitress's  constant  pity,  on  account  of 
the  incompetence  of  his  stomach  to  accept  all  that 
she  offered  for  its  acceptance.  The  energy  of  con- 
viction with  which  the  men  gave  their  evidence  had, 
however,  proved  conclusive  to  the  most  sceptical 
before  we  arrived. 

Bennen  wished  to  leave  some  outward  and  visible 
sign  of  our  success  on  the  summit.  He  deplored 
having  no  suitable  flag  ;  but  as  a  substitute  for  such 
it  was  proposed  that  he  should  use  the  handle  of  one 
of  our  axes  as  a  flagstaff,  and  surmount  it  by  a  red 
pocket-handkei-chief.  This  was  done,  and  for  some 
time  subsequently  the  extempore  banner  was  seen 
flapping  in  the  wind.  To  his  extreme  delight,  it 
was  shown  to  Bennen  himself  three  days  afterwards 


106  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1861 

by  my  friend  Mr.  Francis  Grq,lton,  from  the  Rififel- 
berg  liotel. 

Every  Swiss  climber  is  acquainted  with  the  Weiss- 
horn.  I  have  long  regarded  it  as  the  noblest  of 
all  the  Alps,  and  most  other  travellers  share  tliis 
opinion.  The  impression  it  produces  is  in  some 
measure  due  to  the  comparative  isolation  with 
which  it  juts  into  the  heavens.  It  is  not  masked 
by  other  mountains,  and  all  around  the  Alps  its 
final  pyramid  is  in  view.  Conversely,  the  Weisshorn 
commands  a  vast  range  of  prospect.  Neither 
Bennen  nor  myself  had  ever  seen  anything  at  all 
equal  to  it.  The  day,  moreover,  was  perfect ;  not 
a  cloud  was  to  be  seen ;  and  the  gauzy  haze  of  the 
distant  air,  though  sufficient  to  soften  the  outlines 
and  enhance  the  colouring  of  the  mountains,  was 
far  too  tliin  to  obscure  them.  Over  the  peaks  and 
througli  the  valleys  the  sunbeams  poured,  unim- 
peded save  by  the  mountains  themselves,  which 
sent  their  shadows  in  bars  of  darkness  through  the 
illuminated  air.  I  had  never  before  witnessed  a 
scene  which  affected  me  like  this  one.  I  opened 
my  note-book  to  make  a  few  observations,  but  soon 
relinquished  the  attempt.  There  was  something 
incongruous,  if  not  profane,  in  allowing  the  scien- 
tific faculty  to  interfere  where  silent  worship 
seemed  the  '  reasonable  service.' 

We    had    been    ten    hours    climbing   from    our 


1861]  THE  WEISSHORN.  107 

bivouac  to  the  summit,  and  it  was  now  necessary 
that  we  should  clear  the  mountain  before  the  close 
of  day.  Our  muscles  were  loose  and  numbed,  and, 
unless  extremely  urged,  declined  all  energetic  ten- 
sion :  the  thought  of  our  success,  however,  ran  like 
a  kind  of  wine  through  our  fibres  and  helped  us 
down.  We  once  fancied  the  descent  would  be 
rapid,  but  it  was  far  from  it.  As  in  ascending, 
Bennen  took  the  lead ;  he  slowly  cleared  each  crag, 
paused  till  I  joined  him,  I  pausing  till  Wenger 
joined  me,  and  thus  one  or  other  of  us  was  always 
in  motion.  Our  leader  showed  a  preference  for 
the  snow,  while  I  held  on  to  the  rocks,  where  my 
hands  could  assist  my  feet.  Our  muscles  were 
sorely  tried  by  the  twisting  round  the  splintered 
turrets  of  the  arete,  but  a  long,  long  stretch  of  the 
ridge  must  be  passed  before  we  can  venture  to  swerve 
from  it.  "We  were  roused  from  our  stupefaction  at 
times  by  the  roar  of  the  stones  which  we  loosed  from 
the  ridge  and  sent  leaping  down  the  mountain. 
Soon  after  recrossing  the  snow  catenary  already 
mentioned  we  quitted  the  ridge  to  get  obliquely 
along  the  slope  of  the  pyramid.  The  face  of  it 
was  scarred  by  couloirs,  of  which  the  deeper  and 
narrower  ones  were  filled  with  ice,  while  the  others 
acted  as  highways  for  the  rocks  quarried  by  the 
weathering  above.  Steps  must  be  cut  in  the  ice,  but 
the  swing  of  tlie  axe  is  very  different  now  from  what 


108  nOTJRS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   TEE   ALPS.  [1861 

it  was  in  the  morning.  Bennen's  blows  descended 
with  the  deliberateness  of  a  man  whose  fire  is  half- 
quenched  ;  still  they  fell  with  sufficient  power,  and 
the  needful  cavities  were  formed.  We  retraced  our 
morning  steps  over  some  of  the  ice-slopes.  No  word 
of  warning  was  uttered  here  as  we  ascended,  but 
now  Bennen's  admonitions  were  frequent  and  em- 
phatic— '  Take  care  not  to  slip.'  I  imagined,  how- 
ever, that  even  if  a  man  slipped  he  would  be  able  to 
arrest  his  descent;  but  Bennen's  response  when  I 
stated  this  opinion  was  very  prompt — '  No  !  it  would 
be  utterly  impossible.  If  it  were  snow  you  might 
do  it,  but  it  is  pure  ice,  and  if  you  fall  you  will 
lose  your  senses  before  you  can  use  your  axe.'  I 
suppose  he  was  right.  At  length  we  turned  directly 
downwards,  and  worked  along  one  of  the  ridges 
which  lie  in  the  line  of  steepest  fall.  We  first 
dropped  cautiously  from  ledge  to  ledge.  At  one 
place  Bennen  clung  for  a  considerable  time  to  a  face 
of  rock,  casting  out  feelers  of  leg  and  arm,  and 
desiring  me  to  stand  still.  I  did  not  understand 
the  difficulty,  for  the  rock,  though  steep,  was  by  no 
means  vertical.  I  fastened  myself  on  to  it,  Bennen 
being  on  a  ledge  below,  waiting  to  receive  me. 
The  spot  on  which  he  stood  was  a  little  rounded 
protuberance  sufficient  to  afford  him  footing,  but 
over  which  the  slightest  momentum  would  have 
carried  him.     He  knew  this,  and  hence  his  caution. 


1861]  THE  WEISSHOKN.  109 

Soon  after  this  we  quitted  our  ridge  and  dropped 
into  a  couloir  to  the  left  of  it.  It  tras  dark,  and 
damp  with  trickling  water.  Here  we  disencumbered 
ourselves  of  the  rope,  and  found  our  speed  greatly 
augmented.  In  some  places  the  rocks  were  worn 
to  a  powder,  along  which  we  shot  by  glissades.  We 
swerved  again  to  the  left,  crossed  a  ridge,  and  got 
into  another  and  dryer  couloir.  The  last  one  was 
dangerous,  as  the  water  exerted  a  constant  sapping 
action  upon  the  rocks.  From  our  new  position  we 
could  hear  the  clatter  of  stones  descending  the 
guUey  we  had  just  forsaken.  Wenger,  who  had 
brought  up  the  rear  during  the  day,  is  now  sent  to 
the  front ;  he  has  not  Bennen's  power,  but  his  legs 
are  long  and  his  descent  rapid.  He  scents  out  the 
way,  which  becomes  more  and  more  difficult.  He 
pauses,  observes,  dodges,  but  finally  comes  to  a 
dead  stop  on  the  siunmit  of  a  precipice,  which 
sweeps  like  a  rampart  round  the  mountain.  We 
moved  to  the  left,  and  after  a  long  detour  succeeded 
in  rounding  the  precipice. 

Another  half-hour  brings  us  to  the  brow  of  a 
second  precipice,  which  is  scooped  out  along  its 
centre  so  as  to  cause  the  brow  to  overhang.  Chagrin 
was  in  Bennen's  face :  he  turned  his  eyes  upwards, 
and  I  feared  mortally  that  he  was  about  to  propose 
a  reascent  to  the  arete.  It  was  very  questionable 
whether  our  muscles  could  liave  responded  to  such  a 


110  nOUES    OF   EXERCISE   IN    THE    ALPS.  [18G1 

demand.  While  we  stood  pondering  here,  a  deep 
and  confused,  roar  attracted  our  attention.  From  a 
point  near  the  summit  of  the  Weisshom,  a  rock  had 
been  discharged  down  a  dry  couloir,  raising  a  cloud 
of  dust  at  each  bump  against  the  mountain.  A 
himdred  similar  ones  were  immediately  in  motion, 
while  the  spaces  between  the  larger  masses  were 
filled  by  an  innumerable  flight  of  smaller  stones. 
Each  of  them  shook  its  quantum  of  dust  in  the  air, 
until  finally  the  avalanche  was  enveloped  in  a  cloud. 
The  clatter  was  stunning,  for  the  collisions  were 
incessant.  Black  masses  of  rock  emerged  here  and 
there  from  the  cloud,  and  sped  through  the  air 
like  flying  fiends.  Their  motion  was  not  one  of 
translation  merely,  but  they  whizzed  and  vibrated 
in  their  flight  as  if  urged  by  wings.  Tlie  echoes 
resounded  from  side  to  side,  from  the  Schallenberg 
to  the  Weisshom  and  back,  imtil  finally,  after  many 
a  deep-sounding  thud  in  the  snow,  the  whole  troop 
came  to  rest  at  the  bottom  of  the  mountain.  Tliis 
stone  avalanche  was  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
things  I  had  ever  witnessed,  and  in  connection  with 
it  I  would  draw  the  attention  of  future  climbers  of 
the  Weisshom  to  the  danger  which  would  infallibly 
beset  any  attempt  to  ascend  it  from  this  side,  except 
by  one  of  its  aretes.  At  any  moment  the  mountain- 
side may  be  raked  by  a  fire  as  deadly  as  tliat  of 
cannon. 


I861J  THE   WEISSHOKN.  Ill 

After  due  deliberation  we  moved  along  the  preci- 
pice westward,  I  fearing  that  each  step  forward  but 
plunged  us  into  deeper  difficulty.  At  one  place, 
however,  the  precipice  bevelled  oflf  to  a  steep  in- 
cline of  smooth  rock,  along  which  ran  a  crackj  wide 
enough  to  admit  the  fingers,  and  sloping  obliquely 
down  to  the  lower  glacier.  Each  in  succession 
gripped  the  rock  and  shifted  his  body  sideways  along 
the  crack  until  he  came  near  enough  to  the  glacier 
to  reach  it  by  a;  rough  glissade.  "We  passed  swiftly 
along  the  glacier,  sometimes  running,  and,  on 
steeper  slopes,  sliding,  until  we  were  pulled  up  for  the 
third  time  by  a  precipice  which  seemed  even  worse 
than  either  of  the  others.  It  was  quite  sheer,  and 
as  far  as  I  could  see  right  or  left  altogether  hopeless. 
To  my  surprise,  both  the  men  turned  without  hesi- 
tation to  the  right.  I  felt  desperately  blank,  but  I 
could  notice  no  expression  of  dismay  in  the  counte- 
nance of  either  of  my  companions.  They  inspected 
the  moraine  matter  over  which  we  walked,  and  at 
length  one  of  them  exclaimed,  '  Da  sind  die  Spuren,' 
lengthening  his  strides  at  the  same  moment.  We 
looked  over  the  brink  at  intervals,  and  at  length 
discovered  what  appeared  to  be  a  mere  streak  of 
clay  on  the  face  of  the  precipice.  On  this  streak 
we  found  footing.  It  was  by  no  means  easy,  but  to 
hard-pushed  men  it  was  a  deliverance.  The  streak 
vanished,  and  we  must  get  down  the  rock.     This 


112  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE  IN  THE   ALPS.  [1861 

fortunately  was  rough,  so  that  by  pressing  the  hands 
against  its  rounded  protuberances,  and  sticking  the 
boot-nails  against  its  projecting  crystals,  we  let 
ourselves  gradually  down.  A  deep  cleft  separated 
the  glacier  from  the  precipice  ;  this  was  crossed,  and 
we  were  free,  being  clearly  placed  beyond  the  last 
bastion  of  the  mountain. 

In  this  admirable  fashion  did  my  guides  behave 
on  this  occasion.  The  day  previous  to  my  arrival 
at  Randa  they  had  been  up  the  mountain,  and  they 
then  observed  a  solitary  chamois  moving  along  the 
base  of  this  very  precipice,  and  making  inefifectual 
attempts  to  get  up  it.  At  one  place  the  creature 
succeeded ;  this  spot  they  fixed  in  their  memories, 
and  when  they  reached  the  top  of  the  precipice  they 
sought  for  the  traces  of  the  chamois,  found  them, 
and  were  guided  by  them  to  the  only  place  where 
escape  in  any  reasonable  time  was  possible.  Our 
w  ay  was  now  clear ;  over  the  glacier  we  cheerfully 
n.arched,  escaping  from  the  ice  just  as  the  moon 
and  the  eastern  sky  contributed  about  equally  to  the 
illumination.  The  moonlight  was  afterwards  inter- 
cepted by  clouds.  In  the  gloom  we  were  often  at  a 
loss,  and  wandered  half-bewildered  over  the  grassy 
slopes.  At  length  the  welcome  tinkle  of  cow-bells 
was  heard  in  the  distance,  and  guided  by  them  we 
reached  the  chalet  a  little  after  9  r.M.  The  cows 
had  been  milked  and  the  milk  disposed  of,  but  the 


1861]  THK   WEISSHOEN.  113 

men  managed  to  get  us  a  moderate  draught.  Thus 
refreshed  we  continued  the  descent.  I  was  half 
famished,  for  my  solid  nutriment  during  the  day 
consisted  solely  of  part  of  a  box  of  meat  lozenges 
given  to  me  by  Mr.  Hawkins.  Bennen  and  myself 
descended  the  mountain  deliberately,  and  after  many 
windings  emerged  upon  the  valley,  and  reached  the 
hotel  a  little  before  1 1  p.m.  I  had  a  basin  of  broth, 
not  made  according  to  Liebig,  and  a  piece  of  mutton 
boiled  probably  for  the  fifth  time.  Fortified  by 
these,  and  comforted  by  a  warm  footbath,  I  went 
to  bed,  where  six  hours'  sound  sleep  chased  away  all 
consciousness  of  fatigae.  I  was  astonished  on  the 
morrow  to  find  the  loose  atoms  of  my  body  knitted 
so  firmly  by  so  brief  a  rest.  Up  to  my  attempt  upon 
the  Weisshom  I  had  felt  more  or  less  dilapidated, 
but  here  all  weakness  ended,  and  during  my  subse- 
quent stay  in  Switzerland  I  was  imacquainted  with 
infirmity. 


114  HOUllS   OF    EXEIICISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1861 


X. 

INSPECTION  OF  THE  MATTEBRORN. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  ^Oth  we  quitted  Eanda, 
with  a  threatening  sky  overhead.  The  considerate 
Philom^ne  compelled  us  to  take  an  umbrella,  which 
we  soon  found  useful.  The  flood-gates  of  heaven 
were  unlocked,  while,  defended  by  our  cotton  canopy, 
Bennen  and  myself  walked  arm-in-arm  to  Zermatt. 
I  instantly  found  myself  in  the  midst  of  a  circle  of 
pleasant  friends,  some  of  whom  had  just  returned 
from  a  successful  attempt  upon  the  Lyskamm.  On 
the  22nd  quite  a  crowd  of  travellers  crossed  the 
Theodule  Pass ;  and,  knowing  that  every  corner  of 
the  hotel  at  Breuil  would  be  taken  up,  I  halted  a 
day,  so  as  to  allow  the  people  to  disperse.  Breuil 
commands  a  view  of  the  southern  side  of  the  Matter- 
horn  ;  and  it  was  now  an  object  with  me  to  discover, 
if  possible,  upon  tlie  true  peak  of  this  formidable 
mountain,  some  ledge  or  cranny  where  three  men 
might  spend  a  night.  The  mountain  may  be  ac- 
cessible or  inaccessible,  but  one  thing  seems  certain, 
that  starting  from  Breuil,  or  even  from  the  chalets 


1861]  INSPECTION   OF   THE   MATTERHOBN.  115 

above  Breuil,  the  work  of  reaching  the  summit  is 
too  much  for  a  single  day.  But  could  a  shelter  be 
found  amid  the  wild  battlements  of  the  peak  itself, 
which  would  enable  one  to  attack  the  obelisk  at 
day-dawn,  the  possibility  of  conquest  was  so  far  an 
open  question  as  to  tempt  a  trial.  I  therefore  sent 
Bennen  on  to  reconnoitre,  purposing  myself  to  cross 
the  Theodule  alone  on  the  following  day. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  22nd  I  sauntered  slowly 
up  to  the  Eiffel,  leaning  at  times  on  the  head  of  my 
axe,  or  sitting  down  upon  the  grassy  knolls,  as  my 
mood  prompted.  The  air  which  filled  the  valleys 
of  the  Oberland,  and  swathed  in  mitigated  density 
the  highest  peaks,  was  slightly  opalescent,  though 
still  transparent,  the  floating  particles  forming  so 
many  points  cPappui,  from  which  the  light  was 
scattered  through  smrounding  space.  The  whole 
medium  glowed  as  if  shone  upon  by  a  distant  fur- 
nace, and  through  it  the  outline  of  the  mountains 
loomed.  The  glow  augmented  as  the  sun  sank, 
reached  its  maximun,  paused,  and  then  ran  speedily 
down  to  a  cold  and  colourless  twilight. 

Next  morning  at  nine  o^clock,  with  some  scraps  of 
information  from  the  guides  to  help  mc  on  my  way, 
I  quitted  the  Eiffel  to  cross  the  Theodule.  I  was 
soon  followed  by  the  domestic  of  the  hotel.  Bennen 
had  requested  him  to  see  me  to  the  edge  of  the 
glacier,  and  he  now  joined  me  with  this  intention. 


116  HOURS   OF   EXEKCISE   IN   THE    ALPS.  [1861 

He  knew  my  designs  upon  the  Matterlio/n,  and 
strongly  deprecated  them.  '  Only  think,  Herr,' 
he  urged,  'what  will  avail  your  ascent  of  the 
"Weisshom  if  you  are  smashed  upon  the  Mont  Cervin  ? 
Mein  Herr ! '  he  added  with  condensed  emphasis, 
'  thun  Sie  es  nicht.'  The  whole  conversation  was  in 
fcict  a  homily,  the  strong  point  of  which  was  the 
utter  uselessness  of  success  on  the  one  mountain  if 
it  were  to  be  followed  by  annihilation  on  the 
other.  We  reached  the  ridge  above  the  glacier, 
where,  handing  him  a  trinkgeld,  which  I  had  to  force 
on  his  acceptance,  I  bade  him  good-bye,  assming 
him  that  I  would  submit  in  all  things  to  Bennen's 
opinion.  He  had  the  highest  idea  of  Bennen's 
wisdom,  and  hence  the  assurance  sent  him  home 
comforted. 

I  was  soon  upon  the  ice,  once  more  alone,  as  I 
delight  to  be  at  times.  As  a  habit  going  alone  is 
to  be  deprecated,  but  sparingly  indulged  in  it  is  a 
great  luxury.  There  are  no  doubt  moods  Avhen  the 
mother  is  glad  to  get  rid  of  her  offspring,  the  wife 
of  her  husband,  the  lover  of  his  mistress,  and  when 
it  is  not  well  to  keep  them  together.  And  so,  at 
rare  intervals,  it  is  good  for  the  soul  to  feci  the  full 
influence  of  that  '  society  where  none  intrudes.' 
When  the  work  is  clearly  within  your  power,  when 
long  practice  has  enabled  you  to  trust  your  own  eye 
and  judgment  in   unravelling   crevasses,  and  your 


THE  MATTEBHORN. 


1861]  INSPECTION    OF   THE   MATTERHOKN.  117 

own  axe  and  arm  in  subduing  tlieir  more  serious 
difficulties,  it  is  an  entirely  new  experience  to  be 
alone  amid  those  sublime  scenes.  The  peaks  wear 
a  more  solemn  aspect,  the  sun  shines  with  a  more 
effectual  fire,  the  blue  of  heaven  is  more  deep  and 
awful,  and  the  hard  heart  of  man  is  often  made  as 
tender  as  a  child's.  You  contract  a  closer  friend- 
ship for  the  universe  in  virtue  of  your  more  inti- 
mate contact  mth  its  parts.  The  glacier  to-day  filled 
the  air  with  low  murmurs,  while  the  soimd  of  the 
distant  moulins  rose  to  a  kind  of  roar.  The  debris 
rustled  on  the  moraines,  the  smaller  rivulets  bab- 
bled in  their  channels,  as  they  ran  to  join  their 
trunk,  and  the  surface  of  the  glacier  creaked  au- 
dibly as  it  yielded  to  the  sun.  It  seemed  to  breathe 
and  whisper  like  a  living  thing.  To  my  left  was 
Monte  Rosa  and  her  royal  court,  to  my  right  the 
mystic  pinnacle  of  the  Matterhom,  which  from  a 
certain  point  here  upon  the  glacier  attains  its  max- 
imum sharpness.  It  drew  my  eyes  towards  it  with 
irresistible  fascination  as  it  shimmered  in  the  blue, 
too  preoccupied  with  heaven  to  think  even  with 
contempt  on  the  designs  of  a  son  of  earth  to  reach 
its  inviolate  crest. 

I  crossed  the  Gomer  glacier  quite  as  speedily  as 
if  I  had  been  professionally  led.  Then  up  the 
undulating  slope  of  the  Theodule  glacier,  with  a 
rocky  ridge  to  the  right,  over  which  I  was  informed 


118  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1801 

a  rude  track  led  to  the  pass  of  St.  Theodule.  I  am 
not  great  at  finding  tracks,  and  I  missed  this  one, 
ascending  until  it  became  evident  that  I  had  gone 
too  far.  Near  its  higher  extremity  the  crest  of  the 
ridge  is  cut  across  by  three  curious  chasms,  and 
one  of  these  I  thought  would  be  a  likely  gateway 
through  the  ridge.  I  climbed  the  steep  buttress  of 
the  spur  and  was  soon  in  the  fissure.  Huge  masses 
of  rock  were  jammed  into  it,  the  presence  of  which 
gave  variety  to  the  exertion,  calling  forth  strength, 
but  not  exciting  fear.  From  the  summit  the  rocks 
sloped  gently  down  to  the  snow,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
the  presence  of  broken  bottles  on  the  moraine  showed 
me  that  I  had  hit  upon  the  track.  Upwards  of  twenty 
unhappy  bees  staggered  against  me  on  the  way : 
tempted  by  the  sun,  or  wafted  by  the  wind,  they 
had  quitted  the  flowery  Alps  to  meet  torpor  and 
death  in  the  ice-world  above.  From  the  summit  I 
went  swiftly  down  to  Breuil,  where  I  was  welcomed 
by  the  host,  welcomed  by  the  waiter  ;  loud  were  the 
expressions  of  content  at  my  arrival ;  and  I  was  in- 
formed that  Bennen  had  started  early  in  the  morning 
to  'promenade  himself  around  the  Matterhorn. 

I  lay  long  upon  the  Alp,  scanning  crag  and  snow 

m  search  of  my  guide.    From  the  admirable  account 

of  the  first  attempt  on  the  Matterhorn,  drawn  up 

by    Mr.  Hawkins,'    it    may   be    inferred   that    the 

'  Chapter  III.  of  this  Folume, 


i861]  INSPECTION    OF   THE   MATTERHORN.  119 

ascent  is  not  likely  to  be  a  matter  of  mere  amuse- 
ment. The  account  narrates  that  after  climbing 
for  several  houi'S  in  the  face  of  novel  difficulties, 
my  companion  thought  it  wise  to  halt  so  as  to 
secure  our  retreat.  I  will  here  state  in  a  few 
words  what  occurred  after  our  separation  from 
him.  Bennen  and  I  had  first  a  hard  scramble 
up  some  very  steep  rocks,  our  motions  giving  to 
those  below  us  the  impression  that  we  were  urging 
up  bales  of  goods  instead  of  the  simple  weight  of  our 
own  bodies.  Turning  the  corner  of  the  ridge,  we  had 
to  cross  an  unpleasant  slope  of  smooth  rock,  covered 
by  about  eighteen  inches  of  snow.  In  ascending, 
this  place  was  passed  in  silence,  but  in  coming  down 
the  fear  arose  that  the  superficial  layer  might  slip 
away  with  us.  Bennen  seldom  warns  me,  but  he 
did  so  here  emphatically,  declaring  his  own  power- 
lessness  to  render  any  help  should  the  footing  give 
way.  Having  crossed  this  slope  in  our  ascent,  we 
were  fronted  by  a  cliff,  against  which  we  rose  mainly 
by  aid  of  the  felspar  crystals  protuberant  from  its 
face.  Midway  up  the  cliff  Bennen  asked  me  to  hold 
on,  as  he  did  not  feel  sure  that  it  was  the  best  route. 
I  accordingly  ceased  moving,  and  lay  against  the  rock 
with  legs  and  arms  outstretched.  Bennen  climbed 
to  the  top  of  the  cliff,  but  returned  immediately  with 
a  flush  of  confidence  in  his  eye.  '  I  will  lead  you  to 
the  top,'  he  said  excitedly.     Had  I  been  free  I  sliould 


120  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN    THE    ALPS.  [1 861 

have  cried  '  Bravo  I '  but  in  my  position  I  did  not 
care  to  risk  the  muscular  motion  which  a  hearty 
bravo  would  demand. 

Aided  by  the  rope,  I  was  at  his  side  in  a  minute, 
and  we  soon  learned  that  his  confidence  was  pre- 
mature. Difl&culties  thickened  round  us ;  on  no 
other  mountain  are  they  so  thick,  and  each  of  them 
is  attended  by  possibilities  of  the  most  blood- 
chilling  kind.  Our  mode  of  motion  was  this : 
Bennen  advanced  while  I  held  on  to  a  rock,  pre- 
pared for  the  jerk  if  he  should  slip.  When  he 
had  secured  himself,  he  called  out,  '  Ich  bin  fest, 
kommen  Sie.'  I  then  worked  foi*ward,  sometimes 
halting  where  he  had  halted,  sometimes  passing  him 
until  a  firm  anchorage  was  gained,  when  it  again 
became  his  turn  to  advance.  Thus  each  of  us  waited 
until  the  other  could  seize  upon  something  capable 
of  bearing  the  shock  of  a  falling  man.  At  some 
places  Bennen  deemed  a  little  extra  assurance  ne- 
cessary ;  and  here  he  emphasised  his  statement  that 
he  was  '  fest '  by  a  suitable  hyperbole.  '  Ich  bin  fest 
wie  ein  Mauer, — fest  wie  ein  Berg,  ich  halte  Sio 
gewiss,'  or  some  such  expression. 

Looking  from  Breuil,  a  series  of  moderate- sized 
prominences  are  seen  along  the  arete  of  the  Mat- 
terhom ;  but  when  you  are  near  them,  these  black 
eminences  rise  like  tremendous  castles  in  the  air, 
80   wild  and  high  as  almost  to  quell  all  hope    of 


1861]  INSPECTION    OF   THE   MATTEKHOEN.  121 

Bcaling  or  getting  round  them.  At  the  base  of  one 
of  these  edifices  Bennen  paused  and  looked  closely 
at  the  grand  mass ;  he  wiped  his  forehead,  and 
turning  to  me  said,  '  Was  denken  Sie,  Herr  ?  '— 
'  Shall  we  go  on,  or  shall  we  return  ?  I  will  do 
what  you  wish.'  '  I  am  without  a  wish,  Bennen,'  I 
replied  :  '  where  you  go  I  follow,  be  it  up  or  down.' 
He  disliked  the  idea  of  giving  in,  and  would  wil- 
lingly have  thrown  the  onus  of  stopping  upon  me. 
We  attacked  the  castle,  and  by  a  hard  effort  reached 
one  of  its  mid  ledges,  whence  we  had  plenty  of 
room  to  examine  the  remainder.  We  might  cer- 
tainly have  continued  the  ascent  beyond  this  place, 
but  Bennen  paused  here.  To  a  minute  of  talk  suc- 
ceeded a  minute  of  silence,  during  which  my  guide 
earnestly  scanned  the  heights.  He  then  turned 
towards  me,  and  the  words  seemed  to  fall  from  his 
lips  through  a  resisting  medium,  as  he  said,  '  Ich 
denke  die  Zeit  ist  zu  kurz'  (I  think  the  time  is  too 
short). 

By  this  time  each  of  the  neighbouring  peaks  had 
unfolded  a  cloud  banner,  remaining  clear  to  wind- 
ward, but  having  a  streamer  hooked  on  to  its 
summit  and  drawn  far  out  into  space  by  the  moist 
south  wind.  It  was  a  grand  and  affecting  sight, 
grand  intrinsically,  but  doubly  impressive  to  feelings 
already  loosened  by  the  awe  inseparable  from  our 
position.     Looked  at   from   Breuil,   the   mountain 


122  HOUBS   OF   EXERCISE    IN   THE   ALPS.  [1861 

shows  two  summits  separated  from  each  other  by 
a  possibly  impassable  cleft.  Only  the  lower  one  of 
these  could  be  seen  from  where  we  stood.  I  asked 
Bennen  how  high  he  supposed  it  to  be  above  the 
point  where  we  then  stood ;  he  estimated  its  height 
at  400  feet,  I  at  500  feet.  Probably  both  of  us 
were  under  the  mark ;  however,  I  state  the  fact  as 
it  occurred.  The  object  of  my  present  visit  to 
Brueil  was  to  finish  the  piece  of  work  thus  abruptly 
broken  ofif,  and  so  I  awaited  Bennen's  return  with 
anxious  interest. 

At  dusk  I  saw  him  striding  down  the  Alp,  and 
went  out  to  meet  him.  I  sought  to  gather  his 
opinion  from  his  eye  before  he  spoke,  but  could 
make  nothing  out.  It  was  perfectly  firm,  but  might 
mean  either  pro  or  con.  '  Herr,'  he  said  at  length, 
in  a  tone  of  unusual  emphasis,  '  I  have  examined  the 
mountain  carefully,  and  find  it  more  difficult  and 
dangerous  than  I  had  imagined.  There  is  no  place 
upon  it  where  we  could  well  pass  the  night.  "We 
might  do  so  on  yonder  col  upon  the  snow,  but  there 
we  should  be  almost  frozen  to  death,  and  totally  un- 
fit for  the  work  of  the  next  day.  On  the  rocks  there 
is  no  ledge  or  cranny  which  could  give  us  proper 
harbourage ;  and  starting  from  Breuil  it  is  certainly 
impossible  to  reach  the  summit  in  a  single  day.'  I 
was  entirely  taken  back  by  this  report.  Bennen 
was  evidently  dead  against  any  attempt  upon  the 


8611  INSPECTION    OF   THE   MATTERHORN.  123 

mountain.  '  We  can,  at  all  events,  reach  tlie  lower 
of  the  two  summits,'  I  remarked.  '  Even  that  is 
difficult,'  he  replied ;  '  but  when  you  have  reached 
it,  what  then  ?  The  peak  has  neither  name  nor  fame.' 
I  was  silent ;  slightly  irascible,  perhaps ;  but  it  was 
against  my  habit  to  utter  a  word  of  remonstrance  or 
persuasion.  Bennen  made  his  report  with  his  eyes 
open.  He  knew  me  well,  and  I  think  mutual  trust 
has  rarely  been  more  strongly  developed  between 
guide  and  traveller  than  between  him  and  me.  I 
knew  that  I  had  but  to  give  the  word  and  he  would 
face  the  mountain  with  me  next  day,  but  it  would 
have  been  inexcusable  in  me  to  deal  thus  with  him. 
So  I  stroked  my  beard,  and,  like  Lelia  in  the  '  Prin- 
cess,' when 

Upon  the  sward 
She  tapt  her  tiny  silken-sandal'd  foot, 

I  crushed  the  grass  with  my  hobnails,  seeking  thus 
a  safety-valve  for  my  disappointment. 

My  sleep  was  unsatisfying  that  night,  and  on  the 
following  morning  I  felt  a  void  within.  The  hope 
of  finishing  my  work  creditably  had  been  suddenly 
dislodged,  and,  for  a  time,  vacuity  took  its  place. 
It  was  like  the  removal  of  a  pleasant  drug  or  the 
breaking  down  of  a  religious  faith.  I  hardly  knew 
what  to  do  with  myself.  One  thing  was  certain — 
the  Italian  valleys  had  no  tonic  strong  enough  to 
set  me  right ;   the  mountains  alone  could  restore 


124  HOUES   OF    EXERCISE   IN   THE    ALPS.  [1861 

what  I  had  lost.  Over  the  Joch  then  once  more ! 
We  packed  up  and  bade  farewell  to  the  host  and 
waiter.  Both  men  seemed  smitten  with  a  sudden 
languor,  and  could  hardly  respond  to  my  adieus. 
They  had  expected  us  to  be  their  guests  for  some 
time,  and  were  evidently  disgusted  at  our  want  of 
pluck.  '  Mais,  monsieur,  il  faut  faire  la  penitence 
pour  une  nuit.'  Veils  of  the  silkiest  cloud  began  to 
draw  themselves  roimd  the  mountain,  and  to  stretch 
in  long  gauzy  filaments  through  the  air,  where 
they  finally  curdled  up  to  common  cloud,  and  lost 
the  grace  and  beauty  of  their  infancy.  Had  they 
condensed  to  thunder  I  should  have  been  better 
satisfied ;  but  it  was  some  consolation  to  see  them 
thicken  so  as  to  hide  the  mountain,  and  quench  the 
longing  with  which  I  should  have  viewed  its  vm- 
clouded  head.  The  thought  of  spending  some  days 
chamois-hunting  occurred  to  me.  Bennen  seized  the 
idea  with  delight,  promising  me  an  excellent  gun. 
We  crossed  the  summit,  descended  to  Zermatt, 
paused  there  to  refresh  ourselves,  and  went  forward 
to  St.  Nicholas,  where  we  spent  the  night. 


1861  .  OVER   THE   MORO.  125 


XI. 

OVER   THE  MORO. 

I  HAD  only  seen  one  half  of  Monte  Eosa  ;  and  from 
the  Italian  side  the  aspect  of  the  mountain  was 
unknown  to  me.  I  had  been  upon  the  Monte  Moro 
three  years  ago,  but  looked  from  it  merely  into  an 
infinite  sea  of  haze.  To  complete  my  knowledge  of 
the  mountain  it  was  necessary  to  go  to  Macugnaga, 
and  over  the  Moro  I  accordingly  resolved  to  go. 
But  resolution  had  as  yet  taken  no  deep  root,  and  on 
reaching  Saas  I  was  beset  by  the  desire  to  cross  the 
Alphubel.  Bennen  called  me  at  three ;  but  over  the 
pass  grey  clouds  were  hanging,  and,  determined  not 
to  mar  this  fine  excursion  by  choosing  an  imperfect 
day,  I  then  gave  it  up.  At  seven  o'clock,  however, 
all  trace  of  cloud  had  disappeared ;  it  had  been 
merely  a  local  gathering  of  no  importance,  which  the 
first  sunbeams  resolved  into  transparency.  It  was 
now,  however,  too  late  to  think  of  the  Alphubel, 
so  I  reverted  to  my  original  design,  and  at  9  a.m. 
started  up  the  valley  towards  Mattmark.     A  party 


126  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN   THE    ALPS.  [1861 

of  friends  in  advanqe  contributed  strongly  to  draw 
me  on  in  this  direction. 

Onward  then  we  went  through  the  soft  green 
meadows,  with  the  river  sounding  to  our  right.  The 
Bun  showered  gold  upon  the  pines,  and  brought  richly 
out  the  colouring  of  the  rocks.  The  blue  wood- 
smoke  ascended  from  the  hamlets,  and  the  compa- 
nionable grasshopper  sang  and  chirruped  right  and 
left.  High  up  the  sides  of  the  mountains  the  rocks 
were  planed  down  to  tablets  by  the  ancient  glaciers. 
The  valley  narrowed,  and  we  skirted  a  pile  of 
moraine-like  matter,  which  was  roped  compactly  to- 
gether by  the  roots  of  the  pines.  Huge  blocks  here 
choke  the  channel  of  the  river,  and  raise  its  murmurs 
to  a  roar.  We  emerge  from  shade  into  sunshine, 
and  observe  the  smoke  of  a  distant  cataract  jetting 
from  the  side  of  the  mountain.  Crags  and  boulders 
are  liere  heaped  in  confusion  upon  the  hill-side,  and 
among  them  the  hardy  trees  find  a  lodgment,  asking 
no  nutriment  from  the  stones — asking  only  a  pedes- 
tal on  which  they  may  plant  their  trunks  and  lift 
their  branches  into  the  nourishing  air.  Then  comes 
the  cataract  itself,  plunging  in  rhythmic  gushes  do^vn 
the  shining  rocks. 

The  valley  again  opens,  and  finds  room  for  a  little 
hamlet — dingy  hovels,  witli  a  white  little  church 
in  the  midst  of  them ;  patches  of  green  meadow  and 
yellow  rye,  with  the  gleam  of  the  river  here  and 


.861]  OVER   THK   MORO.  127 

there.  The  moon  hangs  over  the  Mischabelhomer, 
turning  a  face  which  ever  waxes  paler  towards  the 
sun.  The  valley  in  the  distance  seems  shut  in  by 
the  AUalein  glacier,  which  is  approached  amid  the 
waterwom  boulders  strewn  by  the  river  in  its  hours 
of  turbulence.  The  rounded  rocks  are  now  beauti- 
fied with  lichens,  and  scattered  trees  glimmer  among 
the  heaps.  Nature  heals  herself.  She  feeds  the 
glacier  and  planes  the  mountains  down.  She  fuses 
the  glacier  and  exposes  the  dead  rocks.  But  instantly 
her  energies  are  exerted  to  neutralise  the  desolation, 
clothing  the  crags  with  beauty,  and  sending  the 
wandering  wind  in  melody  through  the  branches 
of  the  pines. 

At  the  Mattmark  hotel,  which  stands  at  the  foot 
of  the  Monte  Moro,  I  was  joined  by  a  gentleman  who 
had  just  liberated  himself  from  an  unpleasant  guide. 
Bennen  halted  on  the  way  to  adjust  his  knapsack, 
while  my  companion  and  myself  went  on.  We  lost 
sight  of  my  guide,  lost  the  track  also,  and  clambered 
over  crag  and  snow  to  the  summit,  where  we  waited 
till  Bennen  arrived.  The  mass  of  Monte  Eosa  here 
grandly  revealed  itself  from  top  to  bottom.  Dark 
cliffs  and  white  snows  were  finely  contrasted,  and  the 
longer  I  looked  at  it,  the  more  noble  and  impressive 
did  the  mountain  appear.  "We  were  very  soon  clear 
of  the  snow,  and  went  straight  down  the  declivity 
towards  Macugnaga. 


128  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN   THE    ALPS.  [1861 

We  put  up  at  the  Monte  JNIoro,  where  a  party  of 
friends  greeted  me  with  a  vociferous  welcome.  This 
was  my  first  visit  to  Macugnaga,  and,  save  as  a 
caldron  for  the  generation  of  fogs,  I  knew  scarcely 
anything  about  it.  But  there  were  no  fogs  there  at 
the  time  to  which  I  refer,  and  the  place  wore  quite 
a  charmed  aspect.  I  walked  out  alone  in  the  even- 
ing, up  through  the  meadows  towards  the  base  of 
Monte  Eosa,  and  on  no  other  occasion  have  I  seen 
peace,  beauty,  and  grandeur  so  harmoniously  blended. 
Earth  and  air  were  exquisite,  and  I  returned  to  the 
hotel  brimful  of  content. 

Monte  Eosa  with  her  peaks  and  spurs  builds  here 
a  noble  amphitheatre.  From  the  heart  of  the 
mountain  creeps  the  Macugnaga  glacier.  To  the 
right  a  precipitous  barrier  extends  to  the  Cima  di 
Jazzi,  and  between  the  latter  and  Monte  Eosa  this 
barrier  is  scarred  by  two  couloirs,  one  of  which,  or 
the  clifif  beside  it,  has  the  reputation  of  forming 
the  old  pass  of  the  Weissthor.  It  had  long  been 
uncertain  whether  this  so-called  '  Alter  Pass '  had 
ever  been  used  as  such,  and  many  superior  moun- 
taineers deemed  it  from  inspection  to  be  imprac- 
ticable. All  doubt  on  this  point  was  removed  this 
year  ;  for  JNIr.  Tuckett,  led  by  Bennen,  had  crossed 
the  barrier  by  the  couloir  most  distant  from  Monte 
Eosa,  and  consequently  nearest  to  the  Cima  di 
Jazzi.     As  I  stood   in   front  of  the   hotel   in   the 


1861]  OVEB   THE   MOEO.  129 

afternoon,  I  said  to  Bennen  that  I  should  like  to 
try  the  pass  on  the  following  day ;  in  ten  minutes 
afterwards  the  plan  of  our  expedition  was  arranged. 
We  were  to  start  before  the  dawn,  and,  to  leave 
Bennen's  hands  free,  a  muscular  young  fellow  named 
Andermatten  was  engaged  to  carry  our  provisions. 
It  was  also  proposed  to  vary  the  proceedings  by 
assailing  the  ridge  by  the  couloir  nearest  to  Monte 
Bosa. 


130  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  ri861 


XII. 

THE   OLD    WEISSTHOR. 

I  WAS  called  by  my  host  at  a  quarter  before  three. 
The  firmament  of  Monte  Rosa  was  almost  as  black 
as  the  rocks  beneath  it,  while  above  in  the  darkness 
trembled  the  stars.  At  4  a.m.  we  quitted  the  hotel. 
We  wound  along  the  meadows,  by  the  slumbering 
houses,  and  the  unslumbering  river.  The  eastern 
heaven  soon  brightened,  and  we  could  look  direct 
through  the  gloom  of  the  valley  at  the  opening  of 
the  dawn.  We  threaded  oiu:  way  amid  the  boulders 
which  the  torrent  had  scattered  over  the  plain,  and 
among  which  groups  of  stately  pines  now  find 
anchorage.  Some  of  the  trees  had  exerted  all  their 
force  in  a  vertical  direction,  and  rose  straight,  tall, 
and  mastlike,  without  lateral  branches.  We  reached 
a  great  moraine,  grey  with  years,  and  clothed  with 
magnificent  pines  ;  our  way  lay  up  it,  and  from  the 
top  we  dropped  into  a  little  dell  of  magical  beauty. 
Deep  hidden  by  the  glacier-built  ridges,  guarded  by 
noble  trees,  soft  and  green  at  the  bottom,  and  tufted 
round  with  bilberry  bushes,  through  which  peeped 
here   and   there   the  lichen-covered   crags,  I    have 


18612  THE   OLD   WEISSTHOK.  131 

rarely  seen  a  spot  in  which  I  should  so  like  to 
dream  away  a  day.  Before  I  entered  it,  Monte 
Eosa  was  still  in  shadow,  but  on  my  emergence 
I  noticed  that  her  precipices  were  all  aglow.  The 
purple  colouring  of  the  mountains  observed  on 
looking  down  the  valley  was  indescribable ;  out  of 
Italy  I  have  never  seen  anything  like  it.  Oxygen 
and  nitrogen  could  not  produce  the  effect ;  some 
effluence  from  the  earth,  some  foreign  constituent 
of  the  atmosphere,  developed  in  those  deep  valleys 
by  the  southern  sun,  must  sift  the  solar  beams, 
weaken  the  rays  of  medium  refrangibility,  and 
blend  the  red  and  violet  of  the  spectrum  to  that 
incomparable  hue.  The  air  indeed  is  filled  with 
floating  matters  which  vary  from  day  to  day,  and 
it  is  mainly  to  such  extraneous  substances  that  the 
chromatic  splendours  of  our  atmosphere  are  to  be 
ascribed.  The  air  south  of  the  Alps  is  in  this  respect 
different  from  that  on  the  north,  but  a  modicum 
even  of  arsenic  might  be  respired  with  satisfaction, 
if  warmed  by  the  bloom  which  suffused  the  air  of 
Italy  this  glorious  dawn. 

The  ancient  moraines  of  the  Macugnaga  glacier 
rank  among  the  finest  that  I  have  seen  ;  long,  high 
ridges  tapering  from  base  to  edge,  hoary  with  age, 
but  beautified  by  the  shrubs  and  blossoms  of  to- 
day. We  crossed  the  ice  and  them.  At  the  foot  of 
the  old  Weissthor  lay  couched  a  small  glacier,  which 


132  HOirilS    OF   EXERCISE    IN   THE    ALPS.  [1861 

had  landed  a  multitude  of  boulders  on  the  slope 
below  it ;  and  amid  these  we  were  soon  threading 
our  way.  "We  crossed  the  little  glacier,  which  at  one 
place  strove  to  be  disagreeable,  and  here  I  learned 
from  the  deportment  of  his  axe  the  kind  of  work  to 
which  our  porter  had  been  previously  accustomed. 
Half  a  dozen  strokes  shook  the  head  of  the  im- 
plement from  its  handle.  "We  reached  the  rocks  to 
the  right  of  the  couloir  and  climbed  them  for  some 
distance.  At  the  base  the  ice  was  cut  by  profoimd 
fissures,  which  extended  quite  across,  and  rendered  a 
direct  advance  up  the  guUey  impossible ;  but  higher 
up  we  dropped  down  upon  the  snow. 

Close  to  the  rocks  it  was  scarred  by  a  furrow 
six  or  eight  feet  deep,  and  about  twelve  in  width, 
evidently  the  track  of  avalanches,  or  of  rocks  let 
loose  from  the  heights.  Into  this  we  descended. 
The  bottom  was  firm,  and  roughened  by  stones 
which  foxmd  a  lodgment  there.  It  seemed  that 
we  had  here  a  very  suitable  roadway  to  the  top. 
But  a  sudden  crash  was  heard  aloft.  I  looked 
upward,  and  right  over  the  snow-brow  which  closed 
the  view  perceived  a  large  brown  boulder  in  the  air, 
while  a  roar  of  unseen  stones  showed  that  the  visible 
projectile  was  merely  the  first  shot  of  a  general 
cannonade.  They  appeared — pouring  straight  down 
upon  us — the  sides  of  the  furrow  preventing  them 
from  squandering  their  force  in  any  other  direction. 


*861]  THE    OLD   WEISSTHOR.  133 

*  Schnell ! '  shouted  the  man  behind  me,  and  there 
is  a  ring  in  the  word,  when  sharply  uttered  in  the 
Alps,  that  almost  lifts  a  man  off  his  feet.  I  sprang 
forward,  but,  urged  by  a  sterner  impulse,  the  man 
behind  sprung  right  on  to  me.  We  cleared  the 
furrow  exactly  as  the  first  stone  flew  by,  and  once  in 
safety  we  could  calmly  admire  the  energy  with  which 
the  rattling  boulders  sped  along. 

Our  way  now  lay  up  the  couloir ;  the  snow  was 
steep,  but  knobbly,  and  hence  but  few  steps  were 
required  to  give  the  boots  a  hold.  "We  crossed  and 
recrossed  obliquely,  like  a  horse  drawing  a  laden 
cart  up  hill.  At  times  we  paused  and  examined  the 
heights.  The  view  ended  in  the  snow-fields  above, 
but  near  the  summit  suddenly  rose  a  high  ice-wall. 
If  we  persisted  in  the  couloir,  this  barrier  would 
have  to  be  surmounted,  and  the  possibility  of 
scaling  it  was  very  questionable.  Our  attention 
therefore  was  turned  to  the  rocks  at  our  right,  and 
the  thought  of  assailing  them  was  several  times 
mooted  and  discussed.  They  at  length  seduced  us, 
and  we  resolved  to  abandon  the  snow.  To  reach  the 
rocks,  however,  we  had  to  recross  the  avalanche 
channel,  which  was  here  very  deep.  Bennen  hewed 
a  gap  at  the  top  of  its  flanking  wall,  and,  stooping 
over,  scooped  steps  out  of  its  vertical  face.  He 
then  made  a  deep  hole,  in  which  he  anchored  his 
left  arm,  let  himself  thus  partly  down,  and  with  his 
7 


134  HOUES   OP  EXEECISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1861 

right  pushed  the  steps  to  the  bottom.  While  this  was 
going  on  small  stones  were  continually  flying  down 
the  guUey.  Bennen  reached  the  floor,  and  I  followed. 
Our  companion  was  still  clinging  to  the  snow-wall, 
when  a  horrible  clatter  was  heard  overhead.  It  was 
another  stone  avalanche,  which  there  was  hardly  a 
hope  of  escaping.  Happily  a  rock  was  here  firmly 
stuck  in  the  bed  of  the  gulley,  and  I  chanced  to  be 
beside  it  when  the  first  huge  missile  appeared. 
This  was  the  delinquent  which  had  set  the  others 
loose.  I  was  directly  in  the  line  of  fire,  but, 
ducking  behind  the  boulder,  I  let  the  projectile 
shoot  over  my  head.  Behind  it  came  a  shoal  of 
smaller  fry,  each  of  them,  however,  quite  competent 
to  crack  a  human  life.  '  Schnell ! '  with  its  metallic 
clang,  rung  from  the  throat  of  Bennen ;  and  never 
before  had  I  seen  his  axe  so  promptly  and  vigor- 
ously applied. 

While  this  infernal  cannonade  was  directed  upon 
us  we  hung  upon  a  slope  of  snow  which  had  been 
pressed  and  polished  to  ice  by  the  descending 
stones,  and  so  steep  that  a  single  slip  would  have 
converted  us  into  an  avalanche  also.  Without  steps 
of  some  kind  we  dared  not  set  foot  on  the  slope, 
and  these  had  to  be  cut  while  the  stone  shower 
was  falling  on  us.  Mere  scratches  in  the  ice,  how- 
ever, were  all  the  axe  could  accomplish,  and  on 
these   we   steadied    ourselves   with   the   energy   of 


861]  THE  OLD  WEISSTHOR.  135 

desperate  men.  Bennen  was  first,  and  I  followed 
him,  while  the  stones  flew  thick  beside  and  between 
us.  My  excellent  guide  thought  of  me  more  than 
of  himself,  and  once  caught  upon  the  handle  of 
his  axe,  as  a  cricketer  catches  a  ball  upon  his  bat, 
a  lump  which  might  have  finished  my  climbing. 
The  labour  of  his  axe  was  here  for  a  time  divided 
between  the  projectiles  and  the  ice,  while  at  every 
pause  in  the  volley  '  he  cut  a  step  and  sprang 
forward.'  Had  the  peril  been  less,  it  would  have 
been  amusing  to  see  our  duckings  and  contortions 
as  we  fenced  with  our  swarming  foes.  A  final  jump 
landed  us  on  an  embankment  out  of  the  direct  line 
of  fire,  and  we  thus  escaped  a  danger  extremely 
exciting  to  us  all. 

We  had  next  to  descend  an  ice-slope  to  a  place 
at  which  the  rocks  could  be  invaded.  Here 
Andermatten  slipped,  shot  down  the  slope,  knocked 
Bennen  off  his  legs,  but  before  the  rope  had  jerked 
me  off  mine  the  guide  had  stopped  his  flight.  The 
porter's  hat,  however,  followed  the  rushing  stones. 
It  was  shaken  off  his  head  and  lost.  If  discipline  for 
eye,  limb,  head,  and  heart  be  of  any  value,  we  had 
it,  and  were  still  likely  to  have  it,  here.  Our  first 
experience  of  the  rocks  was  by  no  means  comforting : 
they  were  uniformly  steep,  and,  as  far  as  we  could 
judge  from  a  long  look  upwards,  they  were  likely  to 
continue  so.     A  stiffer  bit  than  ordinary  intervened 


136  HOURS   OP  EXERCISE   IN  THE   ALPS.  [1861 

now  and  then,  making  us  feel  how  possible  it  was  to 
be  entirely  cut  off. 

We  at  length  reached  real  difficulty  number  one- 
All  three  of  us  were  huddled  together  on  a  narrow 
ledge,  with  a  smooth  and  vertical  cliff  above  us. 
Bennen  tried  it  in  various  ways,  but  he  was  several 
times  forced  back  to  the  ledge.  At  length  he 
managed  to  hook  the  fingers  of  one  hand  over  the 
top  of  the  cliff,  while  to  aid  his  grip  hs  tried  to 
fasten  his  shoes  against  its  face.  But  the  nails 
scraped  freely  over  the  granular  surface,  and  he 
had  for  a  time  to  lift  himself  almost  by  a  single 
arm.  As  he  did  so  he  had  as  ugly  a  place  beneath 
him  as  a  human  body  could  well  be  suspended  over. 
We  were  tied  to  him  of  course ;  but  the  jerk, 
had  his  grip  failed,  would  have  been  terrible.  He 
raised  at  length  liis  breast  to  a  level  with  the 
top,  and  leaning  over  it  he  relieved  the  strain. 
Seizing  upon  something  further  on,  he  lifted  himself 
quite  to  the  top ;  then  tightened  the  rope,  while  I 
slowly  worked  myself  over  the  face  of  the  cliff  after 
him.  We  were  soon  side  by  side,  and  immediately 
afterwards  Andermatten,  with  his  long  unkempt 
hair,  and  face  white  with  excitement,  hung  midway 
between  heaven  and  earth  supported  by  the  rope 
alone.  We  hauled  him  up  bodily,  and  as  he  stood 
upon  the  ledge  his  limbs  quivered  beneath  him. 

We  now  strained  slowly  upwards  amid  the  maze 


18C1]  THE   OLD   WEISSTHOR.  137 

of  crags,  and  scaled  a  second  cliff,  resembling,  though 
in  a  modified  form,  that  just  described.  There  was 
no  peace,  no  rest,  no  delivery  from  the  anxiety 
'which  weighed  upon  the  heart.'  Bennen  looked 
extremely  blank,  and  often  cast  an  eye  downward  to 
the  couloir  we  had  quitted,  muttering  aloud,  '  Had 
we  only  held  on  to  the  snow  ! '  He  had  soon  reason 
to  emphasise  his  ejaculation. 

After  climbing  for  some  time,  we  reached  a  smooth 
vertical  face  of  rock  from  which,  right  or  left,  there 
was  no  escape,  and  over  which  we  must  go.  Bennen 
first  tried  it  unaided,  but  was  obliged  to  recoil. 
Without  a  lift  of  five  or  six  feet  the  thing  was  im- 
possible. When  a  boy  I  have  often  climbed  a  wall 
by  placing  a  comrade  in  a  stooping  posture  with 
his  hands  and  head  against  the  wall,  getting  on  his 
back,  and  permitting  him  gradually  to  straighten 
himself  till  he  became  erect.  This  plan  I  now  pro- 
posed to  Bennen,  offering  to  take  him  on  my  back. 
'  Nein,  Herr  1 '  he  replied ;  '  nicht  Sie,  ich  will  es  mit 
Andermatten  versuchen.'  I  could  not  persuade  him, 
so  Andermatten  got  upon  the  ledge,  and  fixed  his 
knee  for  Bennen  to  stand  on.  In  this  position  my 
guide  obtained  a  precarious  grip,  just  sufficient  to 
enable  him  to  pass  with  safety  from  the  knee  to  the 
shoulder.  He  paused  here,  and  pulled  away  such 
splinters  as  might  prove  treacherous  if  he  laid  hold 
of  them.     He  at  length  found  a  firm  one,  and  had 


138  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1861 

next  to  urge  himself,  not  fairly  upward,  for  right 
above  us  the  top  was  entirely  out  of  reach,  but 
obliquely  along  the  face  of  the  cliflf.  He  suc- 
ceeded, anchored  himself,  and  called  upon  me  to 
advance. 

The  rope  was  tight,  it  is  true,  but  it  was  not 
vertical,  so  that  a  slip  would  cause  me  to  swing  like 
a  pendulum  over  the  clifiPs  face.  "With  considerable 
effort  I  managed  to  hand  Bennen  his  axe,  and  while 
doing  so  my  own  staff  escaped  me  and  was  irre- 
coverably lost.  I  ascended  Andermatten's  shoulders 
as  Bennen  did,  but  my  body  was  not  long  enough  to 
bridge  the  way  to  the  guide's  arm ;  so  I  had  to  risk 
the  possibility  of  becoming  a  pendulum.  A  little 
protrusion  gave  my  left  foot  some  support.  I  sud- 
denly raised  myself  a  yard,  and  here  was  met  by 
the  iron  grip  of  my  guide.  In  a  second  I  was  safely 
stowed  away  in  a  neighbouring  fissure.  Ander- 
matten  now  remained.  He  first  detached  himself 
from  the  rope,  tied  it  round  his  coat  and  knapsack, 
which  were  drawn  up.  The  rope  was  again  let 
down,  and  the  porter  tied  it  firmly  round  his  waist. 
It  was  not  made  in  England,  and  was  perhaps  lighter 
tlian  it  ought  to  be;  so  to  help  it  hands  and  feet 
were  scraped  with  spasmodic  energy  over  the  rock. 
He  struggled  too  much,  and  Bennen  cried  sharply, 
'  Langsam  I  langsam  !  Koine  Furcht ! '  The  poor 
fellow  looked  very  pale  and  bewildered  as  his  bare 


1861]  THE   OLD   WEISSTHOE.  139 

head  emerged  above  the  ledge.  His  body  soon 
followed.  Bennen  always  used  the  imperfect  for  the 
present  tense,  '  Er  war  ganz  bleich,'  he  remarked  to 
me,  by  the  '  war '  meaning  ist. 

The  young  man  seemed  to  regard  Bennen  with 
a  kind  of  awe.  '  Sir,'  he  exclaimed,  '  you  would 
not  find  another  guide  in  Switzerland  to  lead  you 
up  here.'  Nor,  indeed,  in  Bennen's  behalf  be  it 
spoken,  would  he  have  done  so  if  he  could  have 
avoided  it ;  but  we  had  fairly  got  into  a  net,  the 
meshes  of  which  must  be  resolutely  cut.  I  had 
previously  entertained  the  undoubting  belief  that 
where  a  chamois  could  climb  a  man  could  follow ; 
but  when  I  saw  the  marks  of  the  animal  on  these  all 
but  inaccessible  ledges,  my  belief,  though  not  eradi- 
cated, became  weaker  than  it  had  previously  been. 

Onward  again,  slowly  winding  through  the  craggy 
mazes,  and  closely  scanning  the  cliffs  as  we  ascended. 
Our  easiest  work  was  stiff,  but  the  '  stifif '  was  an 
agreeable  relaxation  from  the  perilous.  By  a  lateral 
deviation  we  reached  a  point  whence  we  could  look 
into  the  couloir  by  which  Mr.  Tuckett  had  ascended  : 
liere  Bennen  relieved  himself  by  a  sigh  and  ejacula- 
tion :  '  Would  that  we  had  chosen  it !  we  might  pass 
up  yonder  rocks  blindfold ! '  But  repining  was 
useless ;  our  work  was  marked  out  for  us  and  had  to 
be  accomplished.  After  another  difficult  tug  Bennen 
reached  a  point  whence  he  could  see  a  large  extent 


140  nouns  of  exercise  in  the  alps.  [1861 

of  the  rocks  above  us.  There  was  no  serious  diffi- 
culty within  view,  and  the  announcement  of  this 
cheered  us  mightily.  Every  vertical  yard,  however, 
was  to  be  won  only  by  strenuous  effort.  For  a  long 
time  the  snow  cornice  hung  high  above  us ;  we  now 
approached  its  level ;  the  last  cliff  formed  a  sloping 
stair  with  geologic  strata  for  steps.  We  sprang  up 
it,  and  the  magnijScent  snow-field  of  the  Gorner 
glacier  immediately  opened  to  our  view.  The 
anxiety  of  the  last  four  hours  disappeared  like  an 
unpleasant  dream,  and  with  that  perfect  happiness 
which  perfect  health  can  alone  impart,  we  consumed 
our  cold  mutton  and  champagne  on  the  summit  of 
the  old  Weissthor. 


18G2]  RESCUE   FROM   A   CREVASSE.  141 


XIII. 

HE S CUE  FROM  A   CREVASSE. 

Mr.  Huxley  and  myself  had  been  staying  for  some 
days  at  Grindelwald,  hoping  for  steady  weather,  and 
looking  at  times  into  the  wild  and  noble  region 
which  the  Shreckhom,  the  "Wetterhom,  the  Viescher- 
homer,  and  the  Eiger  feed  with  eternal  snows.  "We 
had  scanned  the  buttresses  of  the  Jungfrau  with  a 
view  to  forcing  a  passage  between  the  Jungfrau  and 
the  Monk  from  the  Wengem  Alp  to  the  Aletsch 
glacier.  The  weather  for  a  time  kept  hopes  and 
fears  alternately  afloat,  but  finally  it  declared  against 
us ;  so  we  moved  with  the  unelastic  tread  of  beaten 
soldiers  over  the  Great  Sheideck,  and  up  the  Vale 
of  Hasli  to  the  Grrimsel.  We  crossed  the  pass 
whose  planed  and  polished  rocks  had  long  ago  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  Sir  John  Leslie,  though  the 
solution  which  he  then  offered  ignored  the  ancient 
glacier  which  we  now  know  to  have  been  the  planing 
tool  employed.  On  rounding  an  angle  of  the  Mayen- 
wand,  two  travellers  suddenly  appeared  in  front  of 
us  ;  they  were  Mr.  (now  Sir  John^  Lubbock  and  his 


142  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE    ALPS.  [1862 

guide.  He  had  been  •waiting  at  the  new  hotel 
erected  bj  M.  Seiler  at  the  foot  of  the  Mayenwand. 
expecting  our  arrival ;  and  finally,  despairing  of  this, 
he  had  resolved  to  abandon  the  mountains,  and  was 
now  bound  for  Brientz.  In  fact,  the  lakes  of  Swit- 
zerland, and  the  ancient  men  who  once  bivouacked 
along  their  borders,  were  to  him  the  principal 
objects  of  interest ;  and  we  caught  him  in  the  act 
of  declaring  a  preference  for  the  lowlands  which  we 
could  not  by  any  means  share. 

We  reversed  his  course,  carried  him  with  us  down 
the  mountain,  and  soon  made  ourselves  at  home  in 
M.  Seiler's  hotel.  Here  we  had  three  days'  training 
on  the  glacier  and  the  adjacent  heights,  and  on  one 
of  the  days  Lubbock  and  myself  made  an  attempt 
upon  the  Galenstock.  By  the  flank  of  the  mountain, 
with  the  Rhone  glacier  on  our  right,  we  reached  the 
heights  over  the  ice  cascade  and  crossed  the  glacier 
above  the  fall.  The  sky  was  clear  and  the  air 
pleasant  as  we  ascended ;  but  in  the  earth's  atmo- 
sphere the  sun  works  his  swiftest  necromancy,  the 
lightness  of  air  rendering  it  in  a  peculiar  degree 
capable  of  change.  Clouds  suddenly  generated  came 
drifting  up  the  valley  of  the  Rhone,  covering  the 
glacier  and  swathing  the  mountain-tops,  but  leav- 
ing clear  for  a  time  the  upper  nSve  of  the  Rhone. 
Grandeur  is  conceded  while  beauty  is  sometimes 
denied  to  the  Alps.     But  the  higher  snow-fields  of 


1862]  RESCUE   FROM   A   CREVASSE.  143 

the  great  glaciers  are  altogether  beautiful  —  not 
throned  in  repellent  grandeur,  but  endowed  with  a 
grace  so  tender  as  to  suggest  the  loveliness  of  woman. 

The  day  was  one  long  succession  of  surprises 
wrought  by  the  cloud-filled  and  wind-rent  air.  We 
reached  the  top,  and  found  there  a  gloom  which 
might  be  felt.  It  was  almost  thick  enough  to  cut 
each  of  us  away  from  the  vision  of  his  fellows.  But 
suddenly,  in  the  air  above  us,  the  darkness  would 
melt  away,  and  the  deep  blue  heaven  would  reveal 
itself  spanning  the  dazzling  snows.  Beyond  the 
glacier  rose  the  black  and  craggy  summit  of  the 
Finsteraarhorn,  and  other  summits  and  other  crags 
emerged  in  succession  as  the  battle-clouds  rolled 
away.  But  the  smoke  would  again  whirl  in  upon  us, 
and  we  looked  once  more  into  infinite  haze  from  the 
cornice  which  lists  the  mountain-ridge.  Again  the 
clouds  are  torn  asunder,  and  again  they  close.  And 
thus,  in  upper  air,  did  the  sun  play  a  wild  accompa- 
niment to  the  mystic  music  of  the  world  below. 

From  the  Ehone  glacier  we  proceeded  down  the 
Khone  valley  to  Viesch,  whence,  in  the  cool  twilight, 
all  three  of  us  ascended  to  tlie  Hotel  Jungfrau,  on 
the  ^ggischhom.  This  we  made  our  head-qtiarters 
for  some  days,  and  here  Lubbock  and  I  decided 
to  ascend  the  Jungfrau.  The  proprietor  of  the 
hotel  keeps  guides  for  this  excursion,  but  his  charges 
are  so  high  as  to  be  almost  prohibitory..    I,  however, 


144  nouns  of  exercise  in  the  alps.  [isuj 

needed  no  guide  in  addition  to  my  faithful  Bennen ; 
but  simply  a  porter  of  sufficient  strength  and  skill  to 
follow  where  he  led.  In  the  village  of  Laax  Bennen 
found  such  a  porter — a  young  man  named  Bielander, 
who  had  the  reputation  of  being  both  courageous 
and  strong.  He  was  the  only  son  of  his  mother, 
and  she  was  a  widow. 

This  young  man  and  a  second  porter  we  sent  on 
with  our  provisions  to  the  Grotto  of  the  Faulberg, 
where  we  were  to  spend  the  night.  Between  the 
JEggischhom  and  this  cave  the  glacier  presents  no 
difficulty  which  the  most  ordinary  caution  cannot 
overcome,  and  the  thought  of  danger  in  connection 
with  it  never  occurred  to  us.  An  hour  and  a  half 
after  the  departure  of  our  porters  we  slowly  wended 
our  way  to  the  lake  of  Marjelin,  which  we  skirted, 
and  were  soon  upon  the  ice.  The  middle  of  the 
glacier  was  almost  as  smooth  as  a  carriage-road,  cut 
here  and  there  by  musical  brooks  produced  by  the 
superficial  ablation.  To  Lubbock  the  scene  opened 
out  with  the  freshness  of  a  new  revelation,  as, 
previously  to  this  year,  he  had  never  been  among 
the  glaciers  of  the  Alps.  To  me,  though  not  new, 
the  region  had  lost  no  trace  of  the  interest  with 
which  I  first  viewed  it.  We  moved  briskly  along 
the  frozen  incline,  until,  after  a  couple  of  hours' 
march,  we  saw  a  solitary  human  being  standing  on 
the  lateral  moraine  of  the  glacier,  near  the  point 


i862]  RESCUE  FROM  A   CREVASSE.  145 

where  we   were    to    quit  it  for   the    cave    of    the 
Faulberg. 

At  first  this  man  excited  no  attention.  He  stood 
and  watched  us,  but  did  not  come  towards  us, 
until  finally  oui  curiosity  was  aroused  by  observing 
that  he  was  one  of  our  own  two  men.  The  glacier 
here  is  always  cut  by  crevasses,  which,  while  they 
present  no  real  difficulty,  require  care.  We  ap- 
proached our  porter,  but  he  never  moved ;  and  when 
we  came  up  to  him  he  looked  stupid,  and  did  not 
speak  until  he  was  spoken  to.  Bennen  addressed 
him  in  the  patois  of  the  place,  and  he  answered  in 
the  same  patois.  His  answer  must  have  been  more 
than  usually  obscure,  for  Bennen  misunderstood 
the  most  important  part  of  it.  '  My  Grod  I '  he 
exclaimed,  turning  to  us,  '  Walters  is  killed ! ' 
Walters  was  the  guide  at  the  ^ggischhorn,  with 
whom,  in  the  present  instance,  we  had  nothing  to 
do.  ' No,  not  Walters,'  responded  the  man  ;  'it  is 
my  comrade  that  is  killed.'  Bennen  looked  at  him 
with  a  wild  bewildered  stare.  '  How  killed  ?  '  he 
exclaimed.  '  Lost  in  a  crevasse,'  was  the  reply.  We 
were  all  so  stunned  that  for  some  moments  we  did 
not  quite  seize  the  import  of  the  terrible  statement. 
Bennen  at  length  tossed  his  arms  in  the  air,  ex- 
claiming, '  Jesu  Maria  1  what  am  I  to  do  ? '  With 
the  swiftness  that  some  ascribe  to  dreams,  I  surrounded 
the  fact  with  imaginary  adjuncts,  one  of  which  waa 


146  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1862 

that  the  man  had  been  drawn  dead  from  the  crevasse, 
and  was  now  a  corpse  in  the  cave  of  the  Faulberg  , 
for  I  took  it  for  granted  that,  had  he  been  still 
entombed,  his  comrade  would  have  run  or  called 
for  our  aid.  Several  times  in  succession  the  porter 
affirmed  that  the  missing  man  was  certainly  dead. 

*  How  does  he  know  that  he  is  dead  ? '  Lubbock 
demanded.  '  A  man  is  sometimes  rendered  insen- 
sible by  a  fall  without  being  killed.'  This  question 
was  repeated  in  German,  but  met  with  the  same 
dogmatic  response.  '  "Where  is  the  man  ?  '  I  asked. 
'  There,'  replied  the  porter,  stretching  his  arm  to- 
wards  the   glacier.     '  In   the   crevasse  ? '     A  stolid 

*  Ja  1 '  was  the  answer.  It  was  with  difficulty  that 
I  quelled  an  imprecation.  '  Lead  the  way  to  the 
place,  you  blockhead,'  and  he  led  the  way. 

We  were  soon  beside  a  wide  and  jagged  cleft 
which  resembled  a  kind  of  cave  more  than  an  or- 
dinary crevasse.  This  cleft  had  been  spanned  by  a 
snow  bridge,  now  broken,  and  to  the  edge  of  which 
footsteps  could  be  traced.  The  glacier  at  the  place 
was  considerably  torn,  but  simple  patience  was 
the  only  thing  needed  to  unravel  its  complexity. 
This  quality  our  porter  lacked,  and,  hoping  to  make 
shorter  work  of  it,  he  attempted  to  cross  the  bridge. 
It  gave  way,  and  he  went  down,  carrying  an  immense 
load  of  debris  along  with  him.  We  looked  into  the 
bole,  at  one  end  of  which  the  vision  was  cut  short 


1862]  RESCUE   FROM   A   CREVASSE.  147 

by  darkness,  while  immediately  under  the  broken 
bridge  it  was  crammed  with  snow  and  shattered 
icicles.  "We  saw  nothing  more.  "VVe  listened  with 
strained  attention,  and  from  the  depths  of  the 
glacier  issued  a  low  moan.  Its  repetition  assured 
us  that  it  was  no  delusion — the  man  was  still  alive. 
Bennen  from  the  first  had  been  extremely  excited  ; 
and  the  fact  of  his  having,  as  a  Catholic,  saints 
and  angels  to  appeal  to,  augmented  his  emotion. 
When  he  heard  the  moaning  he  became  almost 
frantic.  He  attempted  to  get  into  the  crevasse, 
but  was  obliged  to  recoil.  It  was  quite  plain  that  a 
second  life  was  in  danger,  for  my  guide  seemed  to 
have  lost  all  self-control.  I  placed  my  hand  heavily 
upon  his  shoulder,  and  admonished  him  that  upon 
his  coolness  depended  the  life  of  his  friend.  '  If 
you  behave  like  a  man,  we  shall  save  him ;  if  like 
a  woman,  he  is  lost.' 

A  first-rate  rope  accompanied  the  party,  but  un- 
happily it  was  with  the  man  in  the  crevasse.  Coats, 
waistcoats,  and  braces  were  instantly  taken  off  and 
knotted  together.  I  watched  Bennen  while  this 
work  was  going  on  ;  his  hands  trembled  with  ex- 
citement, and  his  knots  were  evidently  insecure. 
The  last  junction  complete,  he  exclaimed,  '  Now  let 
me  down  ! '  '  Not  until  each  of  these  knots  has  been 
tested  ;  not  an  inch  ! ' '     Two  of  them  gave  way,  and 

'  'Ach,  Herr,'  he  replied  to  one  of  my  remonstrances,  'Sein  Sit 
nicht  so  hart.' 


148  HOUKS   OF   EXEKCISE   IN    THE   ALPS.  [1862 

Lubbock's  waistcoat  also  proved  too  tender  for  the 
strain.  The  debris  was  about  forty  feet  from  the 
surface  of  the  glacier,  but  two  intermediate  promi- 
nences afforded  a  kind  of  footing.  Bennen  was 
dropped  down  upon  one  of  these ;  I  followed,  being 
let  down  by  Lubbock  and  the  other  porter.  Bennen 
then  descended  the  remaining  distance,  and  was  fol- 
lowed by  me.     More  could  not  find  room. 

The  shape  and  size  of  the  cavity  were  such  as  to 
produce  a  kind  of  resonance,  which  rendered  it 
difficult  to  fix  the  precise  spot  from  which  the 
sound  issued ;  but  the  moaning  continued,  becoming 
to  all  appearance  gradually  feebler.  Fearing  to 
wound  the  man,  the  ice-rubbish  was  cautiously 
rooted  away ;  it  rang  curiously  as  it  fell  into  the 
adjacent  gloom.  A  layer  two  or  three  feet  thick 
was  thus  removed  ;  and  finally,  from  the  frozen  mass, 
and  so  bloodless  as  to  be  almost  as  white  as  the  sur- 
rounding snow,  issued  a  single  hmnan  hand.  The 
fingers  moved.  Eoimd  it  we  rooted,  cleared  the  arm, 
and  reached  the  knapsack,  which  we  cut  away.  We 
also  regained  our  rope.  The  man's  head  was  then 
laid  bare,  and  my  brandy-flask  was  immediately  at 
his  lips.  He  tried  to  speak,  but  his  words  jumbled 
themselves  to  a  dull  moan.  Bennen's  feelings  got 
the  better  of  him  at  intervals ;  he  wrought  like 
a  hero,  but  at  times  he  needed  guidance  and  stem 
admonition.     The  arms   once  free,   we   passed  the 


KECOVEUY    <  K    OIK    TOinKR. 


i862]  KESCUE   FROM    A    CREVASSE.  149 

rope  underneath  them,  and  tried  to  draw  the  man 
out.  But  the  ice-fragments  round  him  had  regelated 
so  as  to  form  a  solid  case.  Thrice  we  essayed  to 
draw  him  up,  thrice  we  failed;  he  had  literally  to 
be  hewn  out  of  the  ice,  and  not  until  his  last  foot 
was  extricated  were  we  able  to  lift  him.  By  pulling 
him  from  above,  and  pushing  him  from  below,  the 
man  was  at  length  raised  to  the  surface  of  the  glacier. 
For  an  hour  we  had  been  in  the  crevasse  in  shirt- 
sleeves— the  porter  had  been  in  it  for  two  hours — 
and  the  dripping  ice  had  drenched  us.  Bennen, 
moreover,  had  worked  with  the  energy  of  madness, 
and  now  the  reaction  came.  He  shook  as  if  he 
would  fall  to  pieces ;  but  brandy  and  some  dry 
covering  revived  him.  The  rescued  man  was  help- 
less, unable  to  stand,  unable  to  utter  an  articulate 
sentence.  Bennen  proposed  to  carry  him  down  the 
glacier  towards  home.  Had  this  been  attempted, 
the  man  would  certainly  have  died  upon  the  ice. 
Bennen  thought  he  could  carry  him  for  two  hours ; 
but  the  guide  Tinderrated  his  own  exhaustion  and 
overrated  the  vitality  of  the  porter.  '  It  cannot  be 
thought  of,'  I  said :  '  to  the  cave  of  Faulberg,  where 
we  must  tend  him  as  well  as  we  can.'  We  got  him 
to  the  side  of  the  glacier,  where  Bennen  took  him 
on  his  back ;  in  ten  minutes  he  sank  imder  his 
load.  It  was  now  my  turn,  so  I  took  the  man  on 
my  back  and  plodded  on  with  him  as  far  as  I  waa 


150  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1862 

able.  Helping  each  other  thus  by  turns,  we  reached 
the  mountain  grot. 

The  sun  had  set,  and  the  cro'\vn  of  the  Jungfrau 
was  embedded  in  amber  light.  Thinking  that  the 
Marjelin  See  might  be  reached  before  darkness,  I 
proposed  starting  in  search  of  help.  Bennen  pro- 
tested against  my  going  alone,  and  I  thought  I 
noticed  moisture  in  Lubbock's  eye.  Such  an  oc- 
casion brings  out  a  man's  feeling  if  he  have  any.  I 
gave  them  both  my  blessing  and  made  for  the  glacier. 
But  my  anxiety  to  get  quickly  clear  of  the  crevasses 
defeated  its  own  object.  Thrice  I  found  myself  in 
difficulty,  and  the  light  was  visibly  departing.  The 
conviction  deepened  that  persistence  would  be  folly, 
and  the  most  impressive  moment  of  my  existence 
was  that  on  which  I  stopped  at  the  brink  of  a 
profound  fissure  and  looked  upon  the  mountains  and 
the  sky.  The  serenity  was  perfect — not  a  cloud, 
not  a  breeze,  not  a  sound,  while  the  last  hues  of 
sunset  spread  over  the  solemn  west. 

I  returned ;  warm  wine  was  given  to  our  patient, 
and  all  our  dry  clothes  were  wrapped  around  him. 
Hot-water  bottles  were  placed  at  his  feet,  and  his 
back  was  briskly  rubbed.  He  continued  to  groan  a 
long  time  ;  but,  finally,  both  this  and  the  trembling 
ceased.  Bennen  watched  him  solemnly,  and  at 
length  muttered  in  anguish,  '  Sir,  he  is  dead  ! '  I 
leaned   over   the   man    and   found    him   breathing 


1862]  EESCTE  FEOM   A   CKEVASSE.  l/)! 

gently ;  I  felt  his  pulse — it  was  beating  tranquilly. 
'  Not  dead,  dear  old  Bennen  ;  he  will  be  able  to 
crawl  home  with  us  in  the  morning.'  The  pre- 
diction was  justified  by  the  event ;  and  two  days 
afterwards  we  saw  him  at  Laax,  minus  a  bit  of  his 
ear,  with  a  bruise  upon  his  cheek,  and  a  few  scars 
upon  his  hand,  but  without  a  broken  bone  or  serious 
injury  of  any  kind. 

The  self-denying  conduct  of  the  second  porter 
made  us  forget  his  stupidity — it  may  have  been 
stupefaction.  As  I  lay  there  wet,  through  the  long 
hours  cf  that  dismal  night,  I  almost  registered  a 
vow  never  to  tread  upon  a  glacier  again.  But,  like 
the  forces  in  the  physical  world,  human  emotions 
vary  with  the  distance  from  their  origin,  and  a  year 
afterwards  I  was  again  upon  the  ice. 


Towards  the  close  of  1862  Bennen  and  myself 
made  '  the  tour  of  Monte  Eosa,'  halting  for  a  day 
or  two  at  the  excellent  hostelry  of  Delapierre,  in 
the  magnificent  Val  du  Lys,  We  scrambled  up  the 
Grauhaupt,  a  point  exceedingly  favourable  to  the 
study  of  the  conformation  of  the  Alps.  We  also 
halted  at  Alagna  and  Macugnaga.  But,  notwith- 
standing their  admitted  glory,  the  Italian  valleys 
did  not  suit  either  Bennen  or  me.  We  longed 
for  the  more  tonic  air  of  the  northern  slopes,  and 
were    gl«d   to    change   the   valley   of  Ansasca  for 


152  HOUllS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1862 

that  of  Saas.  We  subsequently,  on  a  perfect  day, 
crossed  the  Alphubel  Joch — a  very  noble  pass, 
and  by  no  means  diflScult  if  the  ordinary  route  be 
followed.  But  Bennen  and  I  did  not  follow  that 
route.  We  tried  to  cross  the  mountains  obliquely 
from  the  chalets  of  Tasch,  close  under  the  Alphubel, 
and,  as  a  consequence,  encountered  on  a  spur  of  the 
mountain  a  danger  to  which  I  will  not  further  refer 
than  to  say  that  Bennen's  voice  is  still  present  to 
me  as  he  said,  '  Ach,  Herr !  es  thut  mir  Leid,  Sie 
hier  zu  sehen.' ' 

'  Rendered   in   accordiince  with  the    tone  and   sentiment,   tliii 
would  be,  '  Ah  I  sir.  it  breaks  my  heart  to  see  you  here.' 


1862]  THE   MATTERHORN— SECOND    ASSAULT.  153 


xrv. 

THE  MATTERHORN— SECOND  ASSAULT. 

Four  years  ago  I  had  not  entertained  a  wish  or  a 
thought  regarding  the  climbing  of  the  Matterhom. 
Indeed,  assailing  mountains  of  any  kind  was  then 
but  an  accidental  interlude  to  less  exciting  occupa- 
tions upon  the  glaciers  of  the  Alps.  But  in  1859 
Mr.  Vaughan  Hawkins  had  inspected  tlie  mountain 
from  Breuil,  and  in  1860,  on  the  strength  of  this 
inspection,  he  invited  me  to  join  him  in  an  attack 
upon  the  untrodden  peak.  Guided  by  Johann 
Bennen,  and  accompanied  by  an  old  chamois-hunter 
named  Carrel,  we  tried  the  mountain,  but  had  to 
halt  midway  among  its  precipices.  We  returned  to 
Breuil  with  the  belief  that,  if  sufficient  time  could 
be  secured,  the  summit — at  least,  one  summit — 
might  be  won.  Had  I  felt  that  we  had  done  our 
best  on  this  occasion,  I  should  have  relinquished  all 
further  thought  of  the  mountain  ;  but,  unhappily, 
I  felt  the  reverse,  and  thus  a  little  cloud  of  dissatis- 
faction hung  round  the  memory  of  the  attempt. 
In  1861  I  once  more  looked  at  the  Matterhom,  but, 


154  HOUES   OF   EXERCISE   IN    THE    ALPS.  [1862 

as  shown  in  Chapter  X.,  was  forbidden  to  set  foot 
upon  it.  Finally,  in  1862,  the  desire  to  finish  what 
I  felt  to  be  a  piece  of  work  only  half  completed 
beset  me  so  strongly  that  I  resolved  to  make  a  last 
attack  upon  the  imconquered  hill. 

The  resolution,  as  a  whole,  may  have  been  a  rash 
one,  but  there  was  no  rashness  displayed  in  the 
carrying  out  of  its  details.  I  did  not  ignore  the 
law  of  gravity,  but  felt,  on  the  contrary,  that  the 
strongest  aspirations  towards  the  summit  of  the 
Matterhom  would  not  prevent  precipitation  to  its 
base  through  a  false  step  or  a  failing  grasp.  The 
general  plan  proposed  was  this :  Two  first-rate 
guides  were  to  be  engaged,  and,  to  leave  their  arms 
free,  they  were  to  be  accompanied  by  two  strong 
and  expert  porters.  The  party  was  thus  to  consist 
of  five  in  all.  During  the  ascent  it  was  proposed 
that  three  of  those  men  should  always  be,  not  only 
out  of  danger,  but  attached  firmly  to  the  rocks ;  and 
while  they  were  thus  secure,  it  was  thought  that 
the  remaining  two  might  take  liberties,  and  commit 
themselves  to  ventures  which  would  otherwise  be 
inexcusable  or  impossible.  With  a  view  to  this,  I 
had  a  rope  specially  manufactured  in  London,  and 
guaranteed  by  its  maker  to  bear  a  far  greater  strain 
than  was  ever  likely  to  be  thrown  upon  it.  A  light 
ladder  was  also  constructed,  the  two  sides  of  whicli 
might  be   carried  like  huge  alpenstocks,  while  its 


;  1TE  NORMAl  8UHUUL, 

lo.s  Angeles  Cal. 

1862]  THE    MATTERHORN— SECOND    ASSAULT.  155 

steps,  which  could  be  inserted  at  any  moment,  were 
strapped  upon  a  porter's  back.  Long  iron  nails  and 
a  hammer  were  also  among  our  appliances.  Actual 
experience  considerably  modified  these  arrangements, 
and  compelled  us  in  almost  all  cases  to  resort  to 
methods  as  much  open  to  a  savage  as  to  people 
acquainted  with  the  mechanical  arts. 

Throughout  the  latter  half  of  July  rumours  from 
the  Matterhorn  were  rife  in  the  Bernese  Oberland, 
and  I  felt  an  extreme  dislike  to  add  to  the  gossip. 
Wishing,  moreover,  that  others  who  desired  it 
might  have  a  fair  trial,  I  lingered  for  nearly  three 
weeks  among  the  Bernese  and  Valasian  Alps.  This 
time,  however,  was  not  wasted.  It  was  employed  in 
burning  up  the  effete  matters  which  nine  months' 
work  in  London  had  lodged  in  my  muscles — in 
rescuing  the  blood  from  that  fatty  degeneration 
which  a  sedentary  life  is  calculated  to  induce.  I 
chose  instead  of  the  air  of  a  laboratory  that  of  the 
Wetterhorn,  the  Galenstock,  and  the  mountains 
which  surround  the  Great  Aletsch  glacier.  Each 
succeeding  day  added  to  my  strength. 

There  is  assuredly  morality  in  the  oxygen  of  the 
mountains,  as  there  is  immorality  in  the  miasma 
of  a  marsh,  and  a  higher  power  than  mere  brute 
force  lies  latent  in  Alpine  mutton.  We  are  re- 
cognising more  and  more  the  influence  of  physical 
elements  in  the  conduct  of  life,  for  when  the  blood 


156  HOUES   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1862 

flows  in  a  purer  current  the  heart  is  capable  of 
a  higher  glow.  Spirit  and  matter  are  interfused; 
the  Alps  improve  us  totally,  and  we  return  from 
their  precipices  wiser  as  well  as  stronger  men. 

It  is  usual  for  the  proprietor  of  the  hotel  on  the 
^ggischhom  to  retain  a  guide  for  excursions  in  the 
neighbourhood ;  and  last  year  he  happened  to  have 
in  his  employment  one  Walters,  a  man  of  superior 
strength  and  energy.  He  was  the  house  companion 
of  Bennen,  who  was  loud  in  his  praise.  Thinking 
it  would  strengthen  Bennen,  hand  and  heart,  to 
have  so  tried  a  man  beside  him,  I  engaged  Walters, 
and  we  all  three  set  ofif  with  cheerful  spirits  to 
Zermatt.  Thence  we  proceeded  over  the  Matter- 
joch ;  and  as  we  descended  to  Breuil  we  looked 
long  at  the  dangerous  eminences  to  our  right, 
among  which  we  were  to  trust  ourselves  in  a  day  or 
two.  There  was  nothing  jubilant  in  oiu*  thoughts 
or  conversation ;  the  character  of  the  work  before 
us  quelled  presumption.  We  felt  nothing  that 
could  be  called  confidence  as  to  the  issue  of  the 
enterprise,  but  we  also  felt  the  inner  compactness 
and  determination  of  men  who,  though  they  know 
their  work  to  be  difficult,  feel  no  disposition  to 
shrink  from  it.  The  INIatterhorn,  in  fact,  was  our 
temple,  and  we  aproached  it  with  feelings  not  un- 
worthy of  so  great  a  shrine.  Arrived  at  Breuil,  we 
found  that  a  gentleman,  whose  long  perseverance 


1862]  THE   MATTEEHORN— SECOND    ASSAULT.  157 

merited  victory  (and  who  has  since  gained  it),'  was 
then  upon  the  mountain.  The  succeeding  day  was 
spent  in  scanning  the  crags  and  in  making  prepara- 
tions. At  night  Mr.  Whymper  returned  from  the 
Matterhorn,  having  left  his  tent  upon  the  rocks.  In 
the  frankest  spirit,  he  placed  it  at  my  disposal,  and 
thus  relieved  me  from  the  necessity  of  carrying  up 
my  own.  At  Breuil  I  engaged  two  porters,  both 
named  Carrel,  the  youngest  of  whom  was  the  son 
of  the  Carrel  who  accompanied  Mr.  Hawkins  and 
me  in  1860,  while  the  other  was  old  Carrel's  nephew. 
He  had  served  as  a  bersagUer  in  three  campaigns, 
and  had  fought  at  the  battle  of  Solferino ;  his 
previous  habits  of  life  rendered  him  an  extremely 
handy  and  useful  companion,  and  his  climbing 
powers  proved  also  very  superior. 

About  noon  on  an  August  day  we  disentangled 
ourselves  from  the  hotel,  first  slowly  sauntering 
along  a  small  green  valley,  but  soon  meeting  the 
bluffs,  which  indicated  om'  approach  to  uplifted 
land.  The  bright  grass  was  quickly  left  behind,  and 
soon  afterwards  we  were  toiling  laboriously  upward 
among  the  rocks.  The  Val  Tournanche  is  bounded 
on  the  right  by  a  chain  of  mountains,  the  higher 
end  of  which  abutted,  in  former  ages,  against 
Matterhorn.  But  now  a  gap  is  cut  out  between 
both,  and  a  saddle  stretches  from  the  one  to  the 

'  Mr.  "Whymper. 


158  HOURS   OF    EXERCISE   IN   THE    ALPS.  [1862 

other.  From  this  saddle  a  kind  of  couloir  runs 
downwards,  widening  out  gradually  and  blending 
with  the  gentler  slopes  below.  We  held  on  to  the 
rocks  to  the  left  of  this  couloir,  until  we  reached  the 
base  of  a  precipice  which  fell  sheer  from  the  summits 
above.  Water  trickled  from  the  upper  ledges,  and 
the  descent  of  a  stone  at  intervals  admonished  us 
that  gravity  had  here  more  serious  miissiles  at 
command  than  the  drippings  of  the  liquefied  snow. 
So  we  moved  with  prudent  speed  along  the  base  of 
the  precipice,  crossing  at  one  place  the  ice-gulley 
where  Mr.  Whymper  nearly  lost  his  life.  Imme- 
diately afterwards  we  found  ourselves  upon  the 
saddle  which  stretches  with  the  curvature  of  a  chain 
to  the  base  of  the  true  Matterhom.  The  opening 
out  of  the  western  mountains  from  this  point  ot 
view  is  grand  and  impressive,  and  with  our  eyes  and 
hearts  full  of  the  scene  we  moved  along  the  saddle, 
and  soon  came  to  rest  upon  the  first  steep  crags  of 
the  real  Monarch  of  the  Alps. 

Here  we  paused,  imlocked  our  scrip,  and  had  some 
bread  and  vdne.  Again  and  again  we  looked  to  the 
cliffs  above  us,  ignorant  of  the  treatment  that  we 
were  to  receive  at  their  hands.  We  had  gathered 
up  our  traps,  and  bent  to  the  work  before  us,  when 
suddenly  an  explosion  occurred  overhead.  We 
looked  aloft  and  saw  in  mid-air  a  solid  shot  from 
the  Matterhom,  describing  its  proper  parabola,  and 


18G2]  THE   MATTEKHORN— SECOND    ASSAULT.  159 

finally  splitting  into  fragments  as  it  smote  one  of 
the  rocky  towers  in  front  of  us.  Down  the  scattered 
fragments  came  like  a  kind  of  spray,  slightly  wide 
of  us,  but  still  near  enough  to  compel  a  sharp  look- 
out. Two  or  three  such  explosions  occurred,  but  we 
chose  the  back-fin  of  the  mountain  for  our  track, 
and  from  this  the  falling  stones  were  speedily 
deflected  right  or  left.  Before  the  set  of  sun  we 
reached  our  place  of  bivouac.  A  roomy  tent  was 
already  there,  and  we  had  brought  with  us  an 
additional  light  one,  intended  to  aflford  accom- 
modation to  me.  It  was  pitched  in  the  shadow  of 
a  great  rock,  which  seemed  to  offer  a  safe  barrier 
against  the  cannonade  from  the  heights.  Carrel, 
the  soldier,  built  a  platform,  on  which  he  placed  the 
tent,  for  the  mountain  itself  furnished  no  level 
space  of  sufficient  area. 

Meanwhile,  fog,  that  enemy  of  the  climber,  came 
creeping  up  the  valleys,  while  dense  flounces  of 
cloud  gathered  round  the  hills.  As  night  drew 
near,  the  fog  thickened  through  a  series  of  inter- 
mittences  which  a  mountain-land  alone  can  show. 
Sudden  uprushings  of  air  would  often  carry  the 
clouds  aloft  in  vertical  currents,  while  horizontal 
gusts  swept  them  wildly  to  and  fro.  Different 
currents  impinging  upon  each  other  sometimes 
formed  whirling  cyclones  of  cloud.  The  air  was 
tortured  in  its  search  of  equilibrium.     Sometimes 


160  nouns  of  exercise  in  the  alps.  [1862 

all  sight  of  the  lower  world  was  cut  away — then 
again  the  fog  would  melt  and  show  us  the  sunny 
pastures  of  Breuil  smiling  far  beneath.  Sudden 
peals  upon  the  heights,  succeeded  by  the  sound  of 
tumbling  rocks,  announced,  from  time  to  time,  the 
disintegration  of  the  Matterhom.  We  were  quite 
swathed  in  fog  when  we  retired  to  rest,  and  had 
scarcely  a  hope  that  the  morrow's  sun  would  be  able 
to  dispel  the  gloom.  Throughout  the  night  the 
rocks  roared  intermittently,  as  they  swept  down  the 
adjacent  couloir.  I  opened  my  eyes  at  midnight, 
and,  through  a  minute  hole  in  the  canvas  of  my 
tent,  saw  a  star.  I  rose  and  found  the  heavens  swept 
clear  of  clouds,  while  above  me  the  solemn  battle- 
ments of  the  Matterhorn  were  projected  against  the 
blackened  sky. 

At  2  A.M.  we  were  astir.  Carrel  made  the  fire, 
boiled  the  water,  and  prepared  our  coflfee.  It  was 
4  A.M.  before  we  had  fairly  started.  We  adhered  as 
long  as  possible  to  the  hacked  and  weather-worn 
spine  of  the  mountain,  until  at  length  its  disinte- 
gration became  too  vast.  The  alternations  of  sun 
and  frost  have  made  wondrous  havoc  on  the  southern 
face  of  the  Matterhom ;  but  they  have  left  brown- 
red  masses  of  the  most  imposing  magnitude  behind — 
pillars,  and  towers,  and  splintered  obelisks,  grand  in 
their  hoariness — savage,  but  still  softened  by  the 
colouring  of  age.     The  mountain  is  a  gigantic  ruin ; 


1862]  THE   MATTEHHORN — SECOND    ASSAULT.  161 

but  its  firmer  masonry  will  doubtless  bear  the 
shocks  of  another  aeon.  We  were  compelled  to 
quit  the  ridge,  which  now  swept  round  and  fronted 
us  like  a  wall.  The  weather  had  cleft  the  rock 
clean  away,  leaving  smooth  sections,  with  here  and 
there  a  ledge  barely  competent  to  give  a  man 
footing.  It  was  manifest  that  for  some  time  our 
fight  must  be  severe.  We  examined  the  precipice, 
and  exchanged  opinions.  Bennen  swerved  to  the 
right  and  to  the  left  to  render  his  inspection  com- 
plete. There  was  no  choice  ;  over  this  wall  we  must 
go,  or  give  up  the  attempt.  We  reached  its  base, 
roped  ourselves  together,  and  were  soon  upon  the 
face  of  the  precipice.  Walters  was  first,  and  Bennen 
second,  both  exchanging  pushes  and  pulls.  Walters, 
holding  on  to  the  narrow  ledges  above,  scraped  his 
ironshod  boots  against  the  clifi",  thus  lifting  himself 
in  part  by  friction.  Bennen  was  close  behind, 
aiding  him  with  an  arm,  a  knee,  or  a  shoulder. 
Once  upon  a  ledge,  he  was  able  to  give  Bennen  a 
hand.  Thus  we  advanced,  straining,  bending,  and 
clinging  to  the  rocks  with  a  grasp  like  that  of 
desperation,  but  with  heads  perfectly  cool. .  We 
perched  upon  the  ledges  in  succession — each  in  the 
first  place  making  his  leader  secure,  and  accepting 
his  help  afterwards.  A  last  strong  effort  threw  the 
body  of  Walters  across  the  top  of  the  wall ;  and,  he 
being  safe,  our  success  thus  far  was  ensured. 


162  HOURS   OF  EXEKCISE   IN  THE   ALPS.  [1862 

This  ascent  landed  us  once  more  upon  the  ridge, 
with  safe  footing  on  the  lodged  strata  of  'the  disin- 
tegrated gneiss.  Pushing  upward,  we  approached 
the  conical  summit  seen  from  Breuil — the  peak, 
however,  being  the  end  of  a  nearly  horizontal  ridge 
foreshortened  from  below.  But  before  us,  and  as- 
suredly as  we  thought  within  our  grasp,  was  the 
highest  point  of  the  renowned  Matterhorn.  '  Well,' 
I  remarked  to  Bennen,  '  we  shall  at  all  events  win 
the  lower  summit.'  '  That  will  not  satisfy  us,'  was 
his  reply.  I  knew  he  would  answer  thus,  for  a 
laugh  of  elation,  which  had  something  of  scorn  in 
it,  had  burst  from  the  party  when  the  true  summit 
came  in  view.  We  felt  perfectly  certain  of  success  ; 
not  one  amongst  us  harboured  a  thought  of  failure. 
'  In  an  hour,'  cried  Bennen,  '  the  people  at  Zermatt 
shall  see  our  flag  planted  yonder.'  Up  we  went  in 
this  spirit,  with  a  forestalled  triumph  making  our 
ascent  a  jubilee.  We  reached  the  first  summit,  and 
planted  a  flag  upon  it.  Walters,  however,  who  was 
an  exceedingly  strong  and  competent  guide,  but 
without  the  genius  which  is  fired  by  difficulty,  had 
previously  remarked,  with  reference  to  the  last  pre- 
cipice of  the  mountain,  '  We  may  still  find  difficulty 
there.'  The  same  thought  had  probably  brooded  in 
other  minds ;  still  it  angered  me  slightly  to  hear 
misgiving  obtain  audible  expression. 

From  the  point  on  which  we  planted  our  first 


1862]  THE   MATTERHORN — SECOND    ASSAULT.  163 

flagstaff  a  hacked  and  extremely  acute  ridge  ran, 
and  abutted  against  the  final  precipice.  Along  this 
we  moved  cautiously,  while  the  face  of  the  precipice 
came  clearer  and  clearer  into  view.  The  ridge  on 
which  we  stood  ran  right  against  it ;  it  was  the  only 
means  of  approach,  while  ghastly  abysses  fell  on 
either  side.  We  sat  down,  and  inspected  the  place ; 
no  glass  was  needed,  it  was  so  near.  Three  out  of 
the  four  men  muttered  almost  simultaneously,  'It  is 
impossible.'  Bennen  was  the  only  man  of  the  four 
who  did  not  utter  the  word.  A  jagged  stretch  of 
the  ridge  still  separated  us  from  the  precipice.  I 
pointed  to  a  spot  at  some  distance  from  the  place 
where  we  sat,  and  asked  the  three  doubters  whether 
that  point  might  not  be  reached  without  much 
danger.  '  We  think  so,'  was  the  reply.  '  Then  let 
us  go  there.'  We  reached  the  place,  and  sat  down 
there.  The  men  again  muttered  despairingly,  and 
at  length  they  said  distinctly,  '  We  must  give  it  up.' 
I  by  no  means  wished  to  put  on  pressure,  but  direct- 
ing their  attention  to  a  point  at  the  base  of  the 
precipice,  I  asked  them  whether  they  could  not 
reach  that  point  without  much  risk.  The  reply 
was,  '  Yes.'  '  Then,'  I  said,  '  let  us  go  there.'  We 
moved  cautiously  along,  and  reached  the  point 
aimed  at.  The  ridge  was  here  split  by  a  deep  cleft 
which  separated  it  from  the  final  precipice.  So 
savage  a  spot   I  had  never  seen,  and  I  sat  down 


164  HOUKS    OF   EXERCISE    IN   THE   ALPS.  [1862 

upon  it  with  the  sickness  of  disappointed  hope. 
The  summit  was  within  almost  a  stone's  throw  of  us, 
and  the  thought  of  retreat  was  bitter  in  the  extreme. 
Bennen  excitedly  pointed  out  a  track  which  he 
thought  practicable.  He  spoke  of  danger,  of  diffi- 
culty, never  of  impossibility;  but  this  was  the 
ground  taken  by  the  other  three  men. 

As  on  other  occasions,  my  guide  sought  to  fix  on 
me  the  responsibility  of  return,  but  with  the  usual 
result.  <  Where  you  go  I  will  follow,  be  it  up  or 
down.'  It  took  him  half  an  hour  to  make  up  his 
mind.  But  he  was  finally  forced  to  accept  defeat. 
What  could  he  do  ?  The  other  men  had  yielded 
utterly,  and  our  occupation  was  clearly  gone.  Hack- 
ing a  length  of  six  feet  from  one  of  the  sides  of 
our  ladder,  we  planted  it  on  the  spot  where  we 
stopped.  It  was  firmly  fixed,  and,  protected  as 
it  is  from  lightning  by  the  adjacent  peak,  it  will 
probably  stand  there  when  those  who  planted  it 
think  no  more  of  the  Matterhom. 

How  this  wondrous  mountain  has  been  formed 
will  be  the  subject  of  subsequent  enquiry.  It  is 
not  a  spurt  of  molten  matter  ejected  from  the 
nucleus  of  the  earth ;  from  base  to  summit  there  is 
no  truly  igneous  rock.  It  has  no  doubt  been  up- 
raised by  subterranean  forces,  but  that  it  has  been 
lifted  as  an  isolated  mass  is  not  conceivable.  It 
must  have  formed  part  of  a  mighty  boss  or  swelling, 


18G2]  THE   MATTERIIORN — SECOND    ASSAULT.  165 

from  which  the  mountain  was  subsequently  sculp- 
tured. These  subjects,  however,  cannot  be  well 
discussed  here.  To  get  down  the  precipice  we  had 
scaled  in  the  morning,  we  had  to  fix  the  remaining 
length  of  our  ladder  at  the  top,  to  tie  our  rope 
firmly  on  to  it,  and  allow  it  to  hang  down  the  cliff. 
We  sUd  down  it  in  succession,  and  there  it  still 
dangles,  for  we  could  not  detach  it.  A  tempest  of 
hail  was  here  hurled  against  us  ;  as  if  the  Matter- 
horn,  not  content  with  shutting  its  door  in  our  faces, 
meant  to  add  an  equivalent  to  the  process  of  kicking 
us  downstairs.  The  ice-pellets  certainly  hit  us  as 
bitterly  as  if  they  had  been  thrown  in  spite,  and  in 
the  midst  of  this  malicious  cannonade  we  strack 
our  tents  and  returned  to  Breuil. 

[Three  years  subsequently.  Carrel  the  bersaglier, 
and  some  other  Val  Toumanche  men,  reached  my 
rope,  found  it  bleached  to  whiteness,  but  still 
strong  enough  to  bear  the  united  weights  of  three 
men.  By  it  they  were  enabled  to  scale  the  preci- 
pice, spend  the  night  at  a  considerable  elevation, 
and,  through  the  scrutiny  rendered  possible  by  an 
early  start,  to  find  a  way  to  the  summit  of  the 
Matterhorn.  They  reached  the  top  a  day  or  two 
after  the  memorable  first  ascent  from  Zermatt.] 


166  HOUES    OF   EXEKCISE   IN   THE    ALPS.  [1862 


XV. 

FROM  STEIN  TO  THE  GBIMSEL. 

On  the  19th  of  July  1863  Mr.  Philip  Lutley  Sclater 
and  I  reached  Eeichenbach,  and  on  the  following 
day  we  sauntered  up  the  valley  of  Hasli,  and  over 
the  Kirchet  to  Imhof,  where  we  turned  to  the  left 
into  Gadmenthal.  Our  destination  was  Stein,  which 
we  reached  by  a  grass-gTown  road  through  iine 
scenery.  The  goatherds  were  milking  when  we 
arrived.  At  the  heels  of  one  quadruped,  supported 
by  the  ordinary  uni-legged  stool  of  the  Senner, 
bent  a  particularly  wild  and  dirty-looking  indi- 
vidual, who,  our  guide  informed  us,  was  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  inn.  '  He  is  but  a  rough  Bauer,' 
said  Jaun,  'but  he  has  engaged  a  pretty  maiden 
to  keep  house  for  him.'  While  he  thus  spoke  a 
light-footed  creature  glided  from  the  door  towards 
us,  and  bade  us  welcome.  She  led  us  upstairs, 
provided  us  with  baths,  took  our  orders  for  dinner, 
helped  us  by  her  suggestions,  and  answered  all 
our  questions  with  the  utmost  propriety  and 
grace.     She  had  been   two  years  in  England,  and 


1863]  FROM   STEIN  TO   THE   GRIMSEL.  167 

spoke  English  with  a  particularly  winning  accent. 
How  she  came  to  be  associated  with  the  unkempt 
individual  outside  was  a  puzzle,  to  both  of  us.  It  is 
Emerson,  I  think,  who  remarks  on  the  benefit  which 
a  beautiful  face,  without  trouble  to  itself,  confers 
upon  him  who  looks  at  it.  And,  though  downright 
beauty  could  hardly  be  claimed  for  our  young 
hostess,  she  was  handsome  enough  and  graceful 
enough  to  brighten  a  tired  traveller's  thoughts,  and 
to  raise  by  her  presence  the  modest  comforts  she 
dispensed  to  the  level  of  luxuries.* 

It  rained  all  night,  and  at  3.30  a.m.,  when  we  were 
called,  it  still  fell  heavily.  At  5,  however,  the 
clouds  began  to  break,  and  half  an  hour  afterwards 
the  heavens  were  swept  quite  clear  of  them.  At  6 
we  bade  our  pretty  blossom  of  the  Alps  good-bye. 
She  had  previously  brought  her  gentle  influence  to 
bear  upon  her  master  to  moderate  the  extortion  of 
some  of  his  charges.  We  were  soon  upon  the  Stein 
glacier,  and  after   some   time  reached  a  col  from 

'  Thackeray,  in  his  '  Peg  of  Limavady,'  is  perhaps  more  to  the 
point  than  Emerson : 

'  Presently  a  maid 

Enters  with  the  liquor — • 
Half  a  pint  of  ale 

Frothing  in  a  beaker ; 
As  she  came  she  smiled, 

And  the  smile  bewitching, 
On  my  word  and  honour, 

Lighted  all  the  kitchen.' 


168  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE    ALPS.  [18i33 

which  we  looked  down  upon  the  lowei  portion  of  the 
nobler  and  more  instructive  Trift  glacier.  Brown 
bands  were  drawn  across  the  ice-stream,  forming 
graceful  loops  with  their  convexities  turned  down- 
wards. The  higher  portions  of  the  glacier  were  not 
in  view ;  still  those  bands  rendered  the  inference 
secure  that  an  ice-fall  existed  higher  up,  at  the  base 
of  which  the  bands  had  originated.  We  shot  down 
a  shingly  couloir  to  the  Trift,  and  looking  up  the 
glacier  the  anticipated  cascade  came  into  view.  At 
its  bottom  the  ice,  by  pressure,  underwent  that 
notable  change,  analogous  to  slaty  cleavage,  which 
caused  the  glacier  to  weather  and  gather  dirt  in 
parallel  grooves,  thus  marking  upon  its  surface  the 
direction  of  its  interior  lamination. 

The  ice-cascade  being  itself  impracticable,  we 
scaled  the  rocks  to  the  left  of  it,  and  were  soon  in 
presence  of  the  far-stretching  snow-fields  from  which 
the  lower  glacier  derives  nutriment.  With  a  view 
to  hidden  crevasses,  we  here  roped  ourselves  together. 
The  sun  was  strong,  its  direct  and  reflected  blaze 
combining  against  us.  The  scorching  warmth  ex- 
perienced at  times  by  cheeks,  lips,  and  neck  indi- 
cated that  in  my  case  mischief  was  brewing ;  but  the 
eyes  being  well  protected  by  dark  spectacles,  I  was 
comparatively  indifferent  to  the  prospective  dis- 
figurement of  my  face.  Mr.  Sclater  was  sheltered  by 
a  veil,  a  mode  of  defence  which  the  habit  of  gc  ing 


1863]  FROM   STEIN   TO   THE   GRIMSEL.  169 

into  places  requiring  the  unimpeded  eyesight  has 
caused  me  to  neglect. 

There  would  seem  to  be  some  specific  quality  in 
the  sun's  rays  which  produces  the  irritation  of  the 
skin  experienced  in  the  Alps.  The  solar  heat  may 
be  compared,  in  point  of  quantity,  with  that  radi- 
ated from  a  furnace ;  and  the  heat  encountered  by 
the  mountaineer  on  Alpine  snows  is  certainly  less 
intense  than  that  endured  by  workmen  in  many  of 
our  technical  operations.  But  the 'terrestrial  heat 
appears  to  lack  the  quality  which  gives  the  solar 
rays  their  power.  The  sun  is  incomparably  richer 
in  what  are  called  chemical  rays  than  are  our  fires, 
and  to  such  rays  the  irritation  may  be  due.  The 
keen  air  of  the  heights  may  also  have  much  to  do 
with  it.  As  a  remedy  for  sunburn  I  have  tried 
glycerine,  and  found  it  a  failure.  The  ordinary  lip- 
salve of  the  druggists'  shops  is  also  worse  than 
useless ;  but  pure  cold-cream,  for  a  supply  of  which 
I  have  often  had  occasion  to  thank  a  friend,  is  an 
excellent  ameliorative. 

After  considerable  labour  we  reached  the  ridge — 
a  very  glorious  one  as  regards  the  view — which  forms 
the  common  boundary  of  the  Ehone  and  Trift 
glaciers.^  Before  us  and  behind  us  for  many  a  mile 
fell  the  dazzling  neves,  down  to  the  points  where  the 

'  Seven  years  previously  Mr.  Huxley  and  myself  had  attempted  to 
reach  this  col  from  the  other  side. 


170  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1863 

grey  ice  emerging  from  its  white  coverlet  declared 
the  junction  of  snow-field  and  glacier.  We  had 
plodded  on  for  hours  soddened  by  the  solar  heat  and 
parched  with  thirst.     There  was 

Wgter,  ■vrater  everywhere, 
But  not  a  drop  to  drink  ; 

for,  when  placed  in  the  mouth,  the  liquefaction  of 
the  ice  was  so  slow,  and  the  loss  of  heat  from  the 
surrounding  tissues  so  painful,  that  sucking  it  was 
worse  than  total  abstinence.  In  the  midst  of  this 
solid  water  you  might  die  of  thirst.  At  some  dis- 
tance below  the  col,  on  the  Ehone  side,  the  musical 
trickle  of  water  made  itself  audible,  and  to  the 
rocks  from  which  it  fell  we  repaired,  and  refreshed 
ourselves.  The  day  was  far  spent,  the  region  was 
wild  and  lonely,  when,  beset  by  that  feeling  which 
has  often  caused  me  to  wander  singly  in  the  Alps,  I 
broke  away  from  my  companions,  and  went  rapidly 
down  the  glacier.  Our  guide  had  previously  in- 
formed me  that  before  reaching  the  cascade  of  the 
Ehone  the  ice  was  to  be  forsaken,  and  the  Grimsel, 
our  destination,  reached  by  skirting  the  base  of  the 
peak  called  Nagelis  Gratli.  After  descending  the 
ice  for  some  time  I  struck  the  bounding  rocks,  and, 
climbing  the  mountain  obliquely,  found  myself  among 
the  crags  which  lie  between  the  Grimsel  pass  and 
the  Rhone  glacier.     It  was  an  exceedingly  desolate 


.863]  FROM    STEIN    TO   THE   GKIMSEL.  17 1 

place,  and  I  soon  had  reason  to  doubt  the  wisdom  of 
being  there  alone.  Still  diflSculty  rouses  powers  of 
which  we  should  otherwise  remain  imconscious.  The 
heat  of  the  day  had  rendered  me  weary,  but  among 
these  rocks  the  weariness  vanished,  and  I  became 
clear  in  mind  and  fresh  in  body  through  the  know- 
ledge that  after  nightfall  escape  from  this  wilder- 
ness would  be  impossible. 

I  reached  the  watershed  of  the  region,  where  I 
accepted  the  guidance  of  a  tiny  stream.  It  received 
in  its  course  various  lateral  tributaries,  and  at  one 
place  expanded  into  a  small  blue  lake  bounded  by 
banks  of  snow.  I  kept  along  its  side  afterwards 
until,  arching  over  a  brow  of  granite,  it  discharged 
itself  down  precipitous  and  glaciated  rocks.  Here 
I  learned  that  the  stream  was  the  feeder  of  the 
Grimsel  lake.  I  halted  on  the  brow  for  some  time. 
The  hospice  was  in  sight,  but  the  precipices  between 
it  and  me  seemed  desperately  forbidding.  Nothing 
is  more  trying  to  the  climber  than  those  cliffs  which 
have  been  polished  by  the  ancient  glaciers.  Even 
at  moderate  inclinations,  as  may  be  learned  from  an 
experiment  on  the  HoUenplatte,  or  some  other  of 
the  polished  rocks  in  Haslithal,  they  are  not  easy. 
I  need  hardly  say  that  the  inclination  of  the  rocks 
flanking  the  Grrimsel  is  the  reverse  of  moderate. 
It  is  dangerously  steep. 

How  to  get  down  these  smooth  and  precipitous 


172  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1863 

tablets  "W'as  now  a  problem  of  the  utmost  interest  to 
me ;  for  the  day  was  too  far  gone,  and  I  was  too  ig- 
norant of  the  locality,  to  permit  of  time  being  spent 
in  the  search  of  an  easier  place  of  descent.  Eight 
or  left  of  me  I  saw  none.  The  continuity  of  the 
cliflfs  below  me  was  occasionally  broken  by  cracks 
and  narrow  ledges,  with  scanty  grass-tufts  sprouting 
from  them  here  and  there.  The  problem  was  to  get 
down  from  crack  to  crack  and  from  ledge  to  ledge. 
A  salutary  anger  warms  the  mind  when  thus  chal- 
lenged, and,  aided  by  this  warmth,  close  scrutiny  will 
dissolve  diflBculties  which  timidity  might  render 
insuperable.  Bit  by  bit  I  found  myself  getting 
lower,  closely  examining  at  every  pause  the  rocks 
below  me.  The  grass-tufts  helped  me  for  a  time, 
but  at  length  a  slab  was  reached  where  no  friendly 
grass  could  grow.  This  slab  was  succeeded  by  others 
equally  forbidding.  I  looked  upwards,  thinking  of 
retreat,  but  the  failing  day  urged  me  on.  From  the 
middle  of  the  smooth  surface  jutted  a  narrow  ledge. 
Grasping  the  top  of  the  rock,  I  let  myself  down  as 
far  as  my  stretched  arms  would  permit,  and  then 
let  go  my  hold.  I  came  upon  the  ledge  with  an 
energy  that  alarmed  me.  A  downward-pointing 
crack  with  a  streak  of  grass  in  it  was  next  attained ; 
it  terminated  in  a  small,  steep  guUey,  the  portion  of 
which  within  view  was  crossed  by  three  transverse 
ledges,  and   I  judged  tliat  by  friction  the  motion 


1863 J  rBOM   STEIN   TO   THE   GRIMSEL.  173 

down  the  groove  could  be  so  regulated  as  to  enable 
me  to  come  to  rest  at  each  successive  ledge.  But 
the  rush  was  imexpectedly  rapid,  and  I  shot  over 
the  first  ledge.  Having  some  power  in  reserve,  I 
tried  to  clamp  myself  against  the  rock,  but  the 
second  ledge  was  crossed  like  the  first.  The  wish  to 
spare  clothes  or  avoid  abrasions  of  the  skin  here 
vanished,  and  for  dear  life  I  grappled  with  the  rock. 
Braces  gave  way,  clothes  were  rent,  wrists  and  hands 
were  skinned  and  bruised,  while  hips  and  knees 
suffered  variously.  The  motion  however  ended.  I 
was  greatly  heated,  but  immensely  relieved  otherwise. 
A  little  lower  down  I  discovered  a  singular  cave  in 
the  mountain-side,  with  water  dripping  from  its  roof 
into  a  well  of  crystal  clearness.  The  ice-cold  liquid 
soon  restored  me  to  a  normal  temperature.  I  felt 
quite  fresh  on  entering  the  Grimsel  inn,  but  a 
curious  physiological  effect  manifested  itself  when  I 
had  occasion  to  speak.  The  power  of  the  brain  over 
the  lips  was  so  lowered  that  I  could  hardly  make 
myself  understood. 


174  HOURS   OF  EXEBCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [18«3 


XVI. 
THE   OBERAARJOCH. 

ADYENTUKE    AT   THE   ^QGISCHnOKN. 

My  guide  Bennen  reached  the  Grimsel  the  following 
morning.  Uncertain  of  my  own  movements,  I  had 
permitted  him  this  year  to  make  a  new  engagement, 
which  he  was  now  on  his  way  to  fulfil.  As  a  moun- 
taineer, Bennen  had  no  superior,  and  he  added  to 
his  strength,  courage,  and  skill,  the  qualities  of  a 
natural  gentleman.  He  was  now  ready  to  bear  us 
company  over  the  Oberaarjoch  to  the  -^ggischhom. 
On  the  morning  of  the  22nd  we  bade  the  cheerless 
Grimsel  inn  good-bye,  reached  the  Unteraar  glacier, 
crossed  its  load  of  uncomfortable  moraine  shingle, 
and  clambered  up  the  slopes  at  the  other  side. 
Nestled  aloft  in  a  higher  valley  was  the  Oberaar 
glacier,  along  the  unruffled  sm'face  of  which  our 
route  lay. 

The  morning  threatened,  and  fitful  gleams  of  sun- 
light wandered  over  the  ice.  The  Joch  was  swathed 
in  mist,  which  now  and  then  gave  way,  permitting  a 
wild  radiance  to  shoot  over  the  top.  On  the  windy 
simimit  we  took  a  mouthful  of  food  and  roped  our- 


1863]  THE   OBERAAIUOCH.  175 

selves  together.  Here,  as  in  a  hundred  other  places, 
I  sought  in  the  fog  for  the  vesicles  of  De  Saussure, 
but  failed  to  find  them.  Bennen,  as  long  as  we  were 
on  the  Berne  side  of  the  col,  permitted  Jaun  to  take 
the  lead ;  but  now  we  looked  into  Wallis,  or  rather 
into  the  fog  which  filled  it,  and  he,  as  Wallis  guide, 
came  to  the  front.  I  knew  the  Viesch  glacier  well, 
but  how  Bennen  meant  to  unravel  its  difficulties 
without  landmarks  I  knew  not.  I  asked  him  whether, 
if  the  fog  continued,  he  could  make  his  way  down 
the  glacier.  There  was  a  pleasant  timbre  in  Bennen's 
voice,  a  light  and  depth  in  his  smile,  due  to  the 
blending  together  of  conscious  strength  and  warm 
affection.  With  this  smile  he  turned  round  and 
said,  '  Herr,  ich  bin  hier  zu  Hause.  Der  Viescher 
Grletscher  ist  meine  Heimath.' 

Downwards  we  went,  striking  the  rocks  of  the 
Rothhorn  so  as  to  avoid  the  riven  ice.  Suddenly  we 
passed  from  dense  fog  into  clear  air  :  we  had  crossed 
'  the  cloud-plane,'  and  found  a  transparent  atmo- 
sphere between  it  and  the  glacier.  The  dense 
covering  above  us  was  sometimes  torn  asunder  by 
the  wind,  which  whirled  the  detached  cloud-tufts 
round  the  peaks.  Contending  air-currents  were  thus 
revealed,  and  thunder,  which  is  the  common  asso- 
ciate, if  not  the  product,  of  such  contention,  began 
to  rattle  among  the  crags.  At  first  the  snow  upon 
the  glacier  was  sufficiently  heavy  to  bridge  the 
crevasses,  thus  permitting  of  rapid  motion  ;  but  by 


176  nOUKS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1863 

degrees  the  fissures  opened,  and  at  lengtlt  drove  us 
to  the  rocks.  These  in  their  turn  became  imprac- 
ticable. Dropping  down  a  waterfall  well  known  to 
the  climbers  of  this  region,  we  came  again  upon  the 
ice,  which  was  here  cut  by  complex  chasms.  These 
we  unravelled  as  long  as  necessary,  and  finally  es- 
caped from  them  to  the  mountain-side.  The  first 
big  drops  of  a  thunder-shower  were  already  falling 
when  we  reached  an  overhanging  crag  which  gave  us 
shelter.  "We  quitted  it  too  soon,  beguiled  by  a 
treacherous  gleam  of  blue,  and  were  thoroughly 
drenched  before  we  reached  the  ^ggischhorn. 

This  was  my  last  excursion  with  Bennen.  In  the 
month  of  February  of  the  following  year  he  was 
killed  by  an  avalanche  on  the  Haut  de  Cry,  a 
mountain  near  Sion.' 

Having  work  to  execute,  I  remained  at  the 
^ggischhom  for  nearly  a  month  in  18G3.  My 
favourite  place  for  rest  and  writing  was  a  point  on 
the  mountain-side  about  an  hour  westwards  from  the 
hotel,  where  the  mighty  group  of  the  Mischabel,  the 
Matterhom,  and  the  Weisshom  were  in  full  view. 
One  day  I  remained  in  this  position  longer  than 
usual,  held  by  the  fascination  of  the  setting  sun. 

•  Benncn's  death  is  described  in  Chapter  XVIII.  A  liberal  col- 
lection was  made  in  England  for  his  mother  and  sisters ;  and  Mr. 
Hawkins,  Mr.  Tuckett,  and  myself  had  a  small  monument  erected 
to  liis  memory  in  Ernan  cliurchyard.  The  supervision  of  the  work 
was  entrusted  to  a  clerical  friend  of  Bennen's,  who  made  but  a 
poor  use  of  his  trust. 


1863]  ADVENTURE    AT   THE   JEGGISCHHORN.  177 

The  mountains  had  stood  out  nobly  clear  during  the 
entire  day,  but  towards  evening,  upon  the  Dom,  a 
singular  cloud  settled,  which  was  finally  drawn  into 
a  long  streamer  by  the  wind.  Nothing  can  be  finer 
than  the  effect  of  the  red  light  of  sunset  on  those 
streamers  of  cloud.  Incessantly  dissipated,  but  ever 
renewed,  they  glow  with  the  intensity  of  flames.  By- 
and-by  the  banner  broke,  resembling  in  its  action 
that  of  a  liquid  cylinder  when  unduly  stretched, 
forming  a  series  of  crimson  cloud-balls  which  were 
united  by  slender  filaments  of  fire.  I  waited  for  this 
glory  to  fade  into  a  deadly  pallor  before  I  thought 
of  returning  to  the  hotel. 

On  arriving  there  I  found  discussed  with  eager 
interest  the  fate  of  two  ladies  and  a  gentleman,  who 
had  quitted  the  hotel  in  the  morning  without  a  guide, 
and  who  were  now,  it  was  said,  lost  on  the  mountain. 
'  I  recommended  them,'  said  Herr  Wellig,  the  land- 
lord, '  to  take  a  guide,  but  they  would  not  heed  me.' 
I  asked  him  what  force  he  had  at  hand.  Three 
active  young  fellows  came  immediately  forward. 
Two  of  them  I  sent  across  the  mountain  by  the 
usual  route  to  the  Marjelin  See,  and  the  third  I 
took  with  myself  along  the  watercourse  of  the 
iEggischhorn.  After  some  walking  we  dipped  into 
a  little  dell,  where  the  glucking  of  cowbells  an- 
nounced the  existence  of  chalets.  The  party  had 
been  seen  passing  there  in  the  morning,  but  not 


178  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1863 

returning.  The  embankment  of  the  watercourse 
fell  at  some  places  vertically  for  twenty  or  thirty 
feet.  Here  I  thought  an  awkward  slip  might  have 
occurred,  and,  to  meet  the  possibility  of  having  to 
carry  a  wounded  man,  I  took  an  additional  lithe 
yoimg  fellow  from  the  chalet. 

We  shouted  as  we  went  along,  but  the  echoes  were 
our  only  response.  Our  pace  was  rapid,  and  in  the 
dubious  light  false  steps  were  frequent.  We  all  at 
intervals  mistook  the  grey  water  for  the  grey  and 
narrow  track  beside  it,  and  stepped  into  the  stream. 
We  proposed  ascending  to  the  chalets  of  Marjelin, 
but  previous  to  quitting  the  watercourse  we  halted, 
and,  directing  our  voices  down  hill,  shouted  a  last 
shout.  And  faintly  up  the  mountain  came  a  sound 
which  could  not  be  an  echo.  We  all  heard  it,  though 
it  could  hardly  be  detached  from  the  murmur  of  the 
adjacent  stream.  We  went  rapidly  down  the  Alp, 
and  after  a  little  time  shouted  again.  More  audible 
than  before,  but  still  very  faint,  came  the  answer 
from  below.  We  continued  at  a  headlong  pace,  and 
soon  assured  ourselves  that  the  sound  was  not  only 
that  of  a  hmnan  voice,  but  of  an  English  voice. 
Thus  stimulated,  we  swerved  to  the  left,  and,  re- 
gardless of  a  wetting,  dashed  through  tlie  torrent 
which  tumbles  from  the  Marjelin  See.  Close  to  the 
Vicsch  glacier  we  found  the  objects  of  our  search — 
the  two  ladies,  tired  out,  seated  upon  the  threshold 


1863]  ADVENTURE   AT   THE   ^GGISCHHORN.  179 

of  a  forsaken  chalet,  and  the  gentleman  seated  on  a 
rock  beside  them. 

He  was  both  an  experienced  climber  and  a  brave 
man,  but  he  had  started  with  a  sprained  ankle,  and 
every  visitor  knows  how  bewildering  the  spurs  of 
the  -^ggischhom  are,  even  to  those  whose  tendons 
are  sound.  Thus  weakened,  he  was  overtaken  by 
the  night,  lost  his  way,  and,  in  his  efforts  to 
extricate  himself,  had  experienced  one  or  two 
serious  tumbles.  Finally,  giving  up  the  attempt, 
he  had  resigned  himself  to  spending  the  night 
where  we  found  him.  The  ladies  were  quite  tired 
out,  and  to  reach  the  ^ggischhom  that  night  was 
out  of  the  question.  I  tried  the  chalet  door  and 
found  it  locked,  but  an  ice-axe  soon  hewed  the  bolt 
away,  and  forced  an  entrance.  There  was  some 
pinewood  within,  and  some  old  hay,  which,  under 
the  circumstances,  formed  a  delicious  couch  for  the 
ladies.  In  a  few  minutes  a  fire  was  blazing  and 
crackling  in  the  chimney  corner.  Having  thus 
secured  them,  I  returned  to  the  chalets  first  passed, 
sent  them  bread,  butter,  cheese,  and  milk,  and  had 
the  lively  gratification  of  seeing  them  return  safe 
ind  sound  to  the  hotel  next  morninff. 


180  HOURS    OF    EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1863 


XVII. 

ASCENT  OF  THE  JUNGFRAU. 

I  HAD  spent  nearly  a  fortnight  at  the  ^ggischhorn 
in  1863,  employing  alternate  days  in  wandering  and 
musing  over  the  green  Alps,  and  in  more  vigorous 
action  upon  the  Aletsch  glacier.  Day  after  day  a 
blue  sky  spanned  the  earth,  and  night  after  night 
the  stars  glanced  down  from  an  unclouded  heaven. 
There  is  no  nobler  mountain  group  in  S^vitzerland 
than  that  seen  on  a  fine  day  from  the  middle  of  the 
Aletsch  glacier  looking  southwards ;  while  to  the 
north,  and  more  close  at  hand,  rise  the  Jungfiau 
and  other  summits  familiar  to  every  tourist  who 
has  crossed  the  Wengem  Alp.  The  love  of  being 
alone  amid  those  scenes  caused  me,  on  the  3rd  of 
August,  to  withdraw  from  all  society,  and  ascend 
the  glacier,  which  for  nearly  two  hours  was  almost 
as  even  as  a  highway,  no  local  danger  calling  away 
the  attention  from  the  near  and  distant  moun- 
tains. The  ice  yielded  to  the  sun,  rills  were 
formed,  which  united  to  rivulets,  and  these  again 
coalesced  to  rapid  brooks,  which  ran  with  a  pleasant 


1863]  ASCENT   OF   THE  JUNGFRAU.  181 

music  through  deep  channels  cut  in  the  ice.  Sooner 
or  later  these  brooks  were  crossed  by  cracks ;  into 
these  cracks  the  water  fell,  scooping  gradually  out 
for  itself  a  vertical  shaft,  the  resonance  of  which 
raised  the  sound  of  the  falling  water  to  the  dignity 
of  thunder.  These  shafts  constitute  the  so-called 
moulins  of  the  glacier,  examples  of  which  are  shown 
upon  the  Mer  de  Glace  to  every  tourist  who  visits 
the  Jardin  from  Chamouni.  The  moulins  can  only 
form  where  the  glacier  is  not  much  riven,  as  here 
alone  the  rivulets  can  acquire  the  requisite  volume 
to  produce  a  moulin. 

After  two  hours'  ascent,  the  ice  began  to  wear  a 
more  hostile  aspect,  and  long  stripes  of  last  year's 
snow  drawn  over  the  sullied  surface  marked  the 
lines  of  crevasses  now  partially  filled  and  bridged 
over.  For  a  time  this  snow  was  consolidated,  and 
I  crossed  numbers  of  the  chasms,  sounding  in  each 
case  before  trusting  myself  to  its  tenacity.  But  as 
I  ascended,  the  width  and  depth  of  the  fissures 
increased,  and  the  fragility  of  the  snow-bridges 
became  more  conspicuous.  The  crevasses  yawned 
here  and  there  with  threatening  gloom,  while  along 
their  fringes  the  crystallising  power  of  water 
played  the  most  fantastic  freaks.  Long  lines  ot 
icicles  dipped  into  the  darkness,  and  at  some  places 
the  liquefied  snow  had  refrozen  into  clusters  of 
plates,  ribbed  and  serrated  like  the  leaves  of  ferns. 
9 


182  HOUBS  OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1863 

The  cases  in  which  the  snow  covering  of  the  cre- 
vasses, when  tested  by  the  axe,  yielded,  became 
gradually  more  numerous,  demanding  commensurate 
caution.  It  is  impossible  to  feel  otherwise  than 
earnest  in  such  scenes  as  this,  with  the  noblest  and 
most  beautiful  objects  in  nature  around  one,  with 
the  sense  of  danger  raising  the  feelings  at  times  to 
the  level  of  awe. 

My  way  upwards  became  more  and  more  difficult, 
and  circuit  after  circuit  had  to  be  made  to  roimd 
the  gaping  fissures.  There  is  a  passive  cruelty  in 
the  aspect  of  these  chasms  sufficient  to  make  the 
blood  run  cold.  Among  them  it  is  not  good  for 
man  to  be  alone,  so  I  halted  in  the  midst  of  them 
and  swerved  back  towards  the  Faulberg.  But  instead 
of  it  I  struck  the  lateral  tributary  of  the  Aletsch, 
which  runs  up  to  the  Griinhorn  Liicke.  In  this 
passage  I  was  more  than  once  entangled  in  a  mesh 
of  fissm-es ,  but  it  is  marvellous  what  steady,  cool 
scrutiny  can  accomplish  upon  the  ice,  and  how  often 
difficulties  of  apparently  the  gravest  kind  may  be 
reduced  to  a  simple  form  by  skilful  examination. 
I  tried  to  get  along  the  rocks  to  the  Faulberg,  but 
after  investing  half  an  hour  in  the  attempt  I  thought 
it  prudent  to  retreat.  I  finally  reached  the  Faul- 
berg by  the  glacier,  and  with  great  comfort  consumed 
my  bread  and  cheese  and  emptied  my  goblet  in  the 
shadow  of  its  caves.     On  this  day  it  was  my  desire 


;.  SG 

Los  Angeles,  Cat. 

1863]  ASCENT    OF   THE   JUNGFRAU.  183 

to  get  near  the  buttresses  of  the  Jungfrau,  and  to 
see  what  prospect  of  success  a  lonely  climber  would 
have  in  an  attempt  upon  the  mountain.  Such  an 
attempt  might  doubtless  be  made,  but  at  a  risk 
which  no  sane  man  would  willingly  incur. 

On  August  6,  however,  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
joining  Dr.  Hornby  and  Mr.  Philpotts,  who,  with 
Christian  Aimer  and  Christian  Lauener  for  their 
guides,  wished  to  ascend  the  Jungfrau.  We  quitted 
the  ^ggischhorn  at  2.15  p.m.,  and  in  less  than  four 
hours  reached  the  grottoes  of  the  Faulberg.  A 
pine  fire  was  soon  blazing,  a  pan  of  water  soon 
bubbling  sociably  over  the  flame,  and  the  evening 
meal  was  quickly  prepared  and  disposed  of.  For  a 
time  the  air  behind  the  Jungfrau  and  Monk  was 
exceedingly  dark  and  threatening ;  rain  was  stream- 
ing down  upon  Lauterbrunnen,  and  the  skirt  of  the 
storm  wrapped  the  summits  of  the  Jungfrau  and  the 
Monk.  Southward,  however,  the  sky  was  clear,  and 
there  were  such  general  evidences  of  hope  that  we 
were  not  much  disheartened  by  the  local  burst  of 
ill-temper  displayed  by  the  atmosphere  to  the 
north  of  us.  Like  a  gust  of  passion  the  clouds 
cleared  away,  and  before  we  went  to  rest  all  was 
sensibly  clear.  Still  the  air  was  not  transparent, 
and  for  a  time  the  stars  twinkled  through  it  with 
a  feeble  ray.  There  was  no  visible  turbidity,  but  a 
Bomething  which  cut  off  half  the  stellar  brilliancy 


184  HOURS    OF   EXERCISE    IN   THE    ALPS.  [1863 

The  starlight,  however,  became  gradually  stronger, 
not  on  account  of  the  augmenting  darkness,  but  be- 
cause the  air  became  clarified  as  the  night  advanced. 

Two  of  our  party  occupied  the  upper  cave,  and  the 
guides  took  possession  of  the  kitchen,  while  a  third 
lay  in  the  little  grot  below.  Hips  and  ribs  felt 
throughout  the  night  the  pressure  of  the  subjacent 
rock.  A  single  blanket,  moreover,  though  sufficient 
to  keep  out  the  pain  of  cold,  was  insufficient  to 
induce  the  comfort  of  warmth  ;  so  I  lay  awake  in  a 
neutral  condition,  neither  happy  nor  unhappy,  watch- 
ing the  stars  without  emotion  as  they  appeared  in 
succession  above  the  mountain-heads. 

At  half-past  12  a  rumbling  in  the  kitclien  showed 
the  guides  to  be  alert,  and  soon  afterwards  Christian 
Aimer  announced  that  tea  was  prepared.  We  rose, 
consumed  a  crust  and  basin  each,  and  at  1.15  a.m., 
being  perfectly  harnessed,  we  dropjicd  down  upon 
the  glacier.  The  crescent  moon  was  in  the  sky, 
but  for  a  long  time  we  had  to  walk  in  the  shadow 
of  the  mountains,  and  therefore  required  illumina- 
tion. The  bottoms  were  knocked  out  of  two  empty 
bottles,  and  each  of  these,  inverted,  formed  a  kind 
of  lantern  whicli  protected  from  the  wind  a  candle 
stuck  in  the  neck.  Aimer  went  first,  holding  his 
lantern  in  his  left  hand  and  his  axe  in  the  right, 
moving  cautiously  along  the  snow  which,  as  the 
residue  of  the  spring  avalanches,  fringed  the  glacier 


1863]  ASCENT    OF   THE   JUNGFEAU.  185 

At  times,  for  no  apparent  reason,  the  leader  paused 
and  struck  his  ice-axe  into  the  snow.  Looking 
right  or  left,  a  chasm  was  always  discovered  in 
these  cases,  and  the  cautious  guide  sounded  the 
snow,  lest  the  fissure  should  have  prolonged  itself 
underneath  so  as  to  cross  our  track.  A  tributary 
glacier  joined  the  Aletsch  from  our  right — a  long 
corridor  filled  with  ice,  and  covered  by  the  purest 
snow.  Down  this  valley  the  moonlight  streamed, 
silvering  the  surface  upon  which  it  fell. 

Here  we  cast  our  lamps  away,  and  roped  ourselves 
together.  To  our  left  a  second  lo.ng  ice-corridor 
stretched  up  to  the  Lotsch  saddle,  which  hung  like 
a  chain  between  the  opposing  mountains.  In  fact, 
at  this  point  four  noble  ice-streams  form  a  junction, 
and  flow  afterwards  in  the  common  channel  of  the 
Great  Aletsch  glacier.  Perfect  stillness  might  have 
been  expected  to  reign  upon  the  ice,  but  even  at 
that  early  hour  the  gurgle  of  subglacial  water 
made  itself  heard,  and  we  had  to  be  cautious  in 
some  places  lest  a  too  thin  crust  might  let  us  in. 
We  went  straight  up  the  glacier,  towards  the  col 
which  links  the  Monk  and  Jungfrau  together.  The 
surface  was  hard,  and  we  went  rapidly  and  silently 
over  the  snow.  There  is  an  earnestness  of  feeling  on 
such  occasions  which  subdues  the  desire  for  conversa- 
tion. The  communion  we  held  was  with  the  solemn 
mountains  and  their  background  cf  dark  blue  sky. 


186  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN   THE   ALPS.  [1863 

'  Der  Tag  briclit  I '  exclaimed  one  of  the  men.  I 
looked  towards  the  eastern  heaven,  but  could  dis- 
cover no  illumination  which  hinted  at  the  approach 
of  day.  At  length  the  dawn  really  appeared, 
brightening  the  blue  of  the  eastern  firmament; 
at  first  it  was  a  mere  augmentation  of  cold 
light,  but  by  degrees  it  assumed  a  warmer  tint. 
The  long  uniform  incline  of  the  glacier  being 
passed,  we  reached  the  first  eminences  of  snow 
which  heave  like  waves  around  the  base  of  the 
Jungfrau.  This  is  the  region  of  beauty  in  the 
higher  Alps — beauty  pure  and  tender,  out  of  which 
emerges  the  savage  scenery  of  the  peaks.  For  the 
healthy  and  the  pure  in  heart  these  higher  snow- 
fields  are  consecrated  ground. 

The  snow  bosses  were  soon  broken  by  chasms 
deep  and  dark,  which  required  tortuous  winding  on 
our  part  to  get  round  them.  Having  sunnounted  a 
steep  slope,  we  passed  to  some  red  and  rotten  rocks, 
which  required  care  on  the  part  of  those  in  front  to 
prevent  the  loose  and  slippery  shingle  from  falling 
upon  those  behind.  We  gained  the  ridge  and 
wound  along  it.  High  snow  eminences  now  flanked 
us  to  the  left,  and  along  the  slope  over  which  we 
passed  the  seracs  had  shaken  their  fi-ozen  boid- 
ders.  We  tramped  amid  the  knolls  of  the  fallen 
avalanches  towards  a  white  wall  which,  so  far  as  we 
could  see,  barred  further  progress.     To    our   right 


1863]  ASCENT   OF    THE   JUNGFEAU.  187 

were  noble  chasms,  blue  and  profound,  torn  into  the 
heart  of  the  neve  by  the  slow  but  resistless  drag  of 
gravity  on  the  descending  snows.  Meanwhile  the 
dawn  had  brightened  into  perfect  day,  and  over 
mountains  and  glaciers  the  gold  and  purple  light 
of  the  eastern  heaven  was  liberally  poured.  We 
had  already  caught  sight  of  the  peak  of  the 
Jungfrau,  rising  behind  an  eminence  and  piercing 
for  fifty  feet  or  so  the  rosy  dawn.  And  many 
another  peak  of  stately  altitude  caught  the  blush, 
while  the  shaded  slopes  were  all  of  a  beautiful  azure, 
being  illuminated  by  the  firmament  alone.  A  large 
segment  of  space  enclosed  between  the  Monk  and 
Trugberg  was  filled  like  a  reservoir  with  purple 
light.  The  world,  in  fact,  seemed  to  worship,  and 
the  flush  of  adoration  was  on  every  mountain-head. 

Over  the  distant  Italian  Alps  rose  clouds  of  the 
most  fantastic  forms,  jutting  forth  into  the  heavens 
like  enormous  trees,  thrusting  out  umbrageous 
branches  which  bloomed  and  glistened  in  the  solar 
rays.  Along  the  whole  southern  heaven  these  fan- 
tastic masses  were  ranged  close  together,  but  still 
perfectly  isolated,  until  on  reaching  a  certain  altitude 
they  seemed  to  meet  a  region  of  wind  which  blew 
their  tops  like  streamers  far  away  through  the  air. 
Warmed  and  tinted  by  the  morning  sun  those  unsub- 
stantial masses  rivalled  in  grandeur  the  mountains 
themselves. 


188  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1863 

The  final  peak  of  the  Jungfrau  is  now  before  us, 
and  apparently  so  near  1  But  the  mountaineer 
alone  knows  how  delusive  the  impression  of  nearness 
often  is  in  the  Alps.  To  reach  the  slope  which  led 
up  to  the  peak  we  must  scale  or  round  the  barrier 
already  spoken  of.  From  the  coping  and  the  ledges 
of  this  beautiful  wall  hung  long  stalactites  of  ice, 
in  some  cases  like  inverted  spears,  with  their  sharp 
points  free  in  air.  In  other  cases,  the  icicles  which 
descended  from  the  overhanging  top  reached  a 
projecting  lower  ledge,  and  stretched  like  a  crystal 
railing  from  the  one  to  the  other.  To  the  right  of 
this  barrier  was  a  narrow  gangway,  from  which  the 
snow  had  not  yet  broken  away  so  as  to  form  a 
vertical  or  overhanging  wall.  It  was  one  of  those 
accidents  which  the  mountains  seldom  fail  to  fur- 
nish, and  on  the  existence  of  which  the  success  of  the 
climber  entirely  depends.  Up  this  steep  and  narrow 
gangway  we  cut  our  steps,  and  a  few  minutes  placed 
us  safely  at  the  bottonv  of  the  final  pyramid  of  the 
Jungfrau. 

From  this  point  we  could  look  down  into  the 
abyss  of  the  Eoththal,  and  certainly  its  wild  environs 
seemed  to  justify  the  uses  to  which  superstition 
has  assigned  the  place.  For  here  it  is  said  the 
original  demons  of  the  mountains  hold  their  orgies, 
and  hither  the  spirits  of  the  doubly-damned  among 
men  are  sent  to  bear  them  company.     The  slope  up 


1863]  ASCENT   OF  THE  JUNGFRAU.  189 

which  we  had  now  to  climb  was  turned  towards  the 
8un ;  its  aspect  was  a  southern  one,  and  its  snows 
had  been  melted  and  recongealed  to  hard  ice.  The 
axe  of  Aimer  rung  against  the  obdurate  solid,  and 
its  fragments  whirred  past  us  with  a  weird-like 
sound  to  the  abysses  below.  They  suggested  the 
fate  which  a  false  step  might  bring  along  with  it. 
It  is  a  practical  tribute  to  the  strength  and  skill  of 
the  Oberland  guides  that  no  disaster  has  hitherto 
occurred  upon  the  peak  of  the  Jungfrau. 

The  work  upon  this  final  ice-slope  was  long  and 
heavy,  and  during  this  time  the  summit  appeared 
to  maintain  its  distance  above  us.  We  at  length 
cleared  the  ice,  and  gained  a  stretch  of  snow  which 
enabled  us  to  treble  our  upward  speed.  Thence  to 
some  loose  and  shingly  rocks,  again  to  the  snow, 
whence  a  sharp  edge  led  directly  up  to  the  top. 
The  exhilaration  of  success  was  here  added  to  that 
derived  from  physical  nature.  On  the  top  fluttered 
a  little  black  flag,  planted  by  our  most  recent 
predecessors.  We  reached  it  at  7.15  a.m.,  having 
accomplished  the  ascent  from  the  Faulberg  in  six 
hours.  The  snow  was  flattened  on  either  side  of 
the  apex  so  as  to  enable  us  all  to  stand  upon  it, 
and  here  we  stood  for  some  time,  with  all  the 
magnificence  of  the  Alps  unrolled  before  us. 

We  may  look  upon  those  mountains  again  and 
again   from   a   dozen   different    points   of  view,   a 


190  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1863 

perennial  glory  surrounds  them  which  associates  with 
every  new  prospect  fresh  impressions.  I  thought 
I  had  scarcely  ever  seen  the  Alps  to  greater  advan- 
tage. Hardly  ever  was  their  majesty  more  fully 
revealed  or  more  overpowering.  The  colouring  of 
the  air  contributed  as  much  to  the  effect  as  the 
grandeur  of  the  masses  on  which  that  colouring  fell. 
A  calm  splendour  overspread  the  mountains,  soften- 
ing the  harshness  of  the  outlines  without  detracting 
from  their  strength.  But  half  the  interest  of  such 
scenes  is  psychological ;  the  soul  takes  the  tint  of  sur- 
rounding nature,  and  in  its  turn  becomes  majestic. 

And  as  I  looked  over  this  wondrous  scene  towards 
Mont  Blanc,  the  Grand  Combin,  the  Dent  Blanche, 
the  Weisshorn,  the  Dom,  and  the  thousand  lesser 
peaks  which  seemed  to  join  in  celebration  of  the 
risen  day,  I  asked  myself,  as  on  previous  occasions  : 
How  was  this  colossal  work  performed?  Who 
chiselled  these  mighty  and  picturesque  masses  out  of 
a  mere  protuberance  of  the  earth  ?  And  the  answer 
was  at  hand.  Ever  young,  ever  mighty — with  the 
vigour  of  a  thousand  worlds  still  within  him — the 
real  sculptor  was  even  then  climbing  up  the  eastern 
sky.  It  was  he  who  raised  aloft  the  waters  which 
cut  out  these  ravines  ;  it  was  ho  wlio  planted  the 
glaciers  on  the  mountain-slopes,  thus  giving  gravity 
a  plough  to  open  out  tlie  valleys  ;  and  it  is  he  who, 
acting  through  the  ages,  will  finally  lay  low  these 


1863]  ASCENT    OF    THE   JUNGFRAU.  191 

mighty  monuments,  rolling  them  gradually  sea- 
ward— 

Sowing  the  seeds  of  continents  to  be ; 

SO  that  the  people  of  an  older  earth  may  see  mould 
spread  and  corn  wave  over  the  hidden  rocks  which 
at  this  moment  bear  the  weight  of  the  Jungfrau.' 

'  Eight  years  ago  I  was  evidently  a  sun- worshipper ;  nor  have  I 
yet  lost  the  conviction  of  his  ability  to  do  all  here  ascribed  to  h'm. — 
J.T.,  1871. 


192  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN    THE   ALPS.  [1864 


XVIII. 

DEATH  OF  BENNEN  ON  THE  HA  UT  DE  CR  Y, 

Bt  PHILIP   C.   GOSSETT. 

[On  a  March  morning  in  1864  I  was  returning  to  town 
from  Chislehurst,  "wlien  my  attention  was  directed  to  an 
account  of  an  Alpine  disaster  published  in  that  day's 
'  Times.'  No  names  were  mentioned,  and  I  commented 
rather  severely  on  the  rashness  of  trusting  to  mountain- 
snow  so  early  in  the  year.  On  the  Ibllowing  day  I  learned 
that  my  brave  Bennon  was  one  of  the  victims.  Mr.  P.  C. 
Gossctt  wrote  for  the  *  Alpine  Journal '  a  '  Narrative  of  the 
Accident,'  which,  through  the  obliging  kindness  of  the 
author,  I  am  enabled  to  publish  here.  Mr.  Gossett  was 
accompanied  by  his  friend  M.  Boissonnet  on  the  fatal  day.] 


On  February  28,  1864,  we  left  Sion  with  Bennen  to 
mount  the  Haut  de  Cry.  We  started  at  2.15  a.m. 
in  a  liglit  carriage  that  brought  us  to  the  village  of 
Ardon,  distant  six  miles.  We  there  met  three  men 
that  were  to  accompany  us  as  local  guides  and 
porters — Jean  Joseph  Nance,  Frederic  Rebot,  who 


1864]  DEATH   OF   BENNEN.  193 

acted  as  my  personal  guide,  and  Angus  te  Bevard. 
We  at  once  began  to  ascend  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Lyzeme.  The  night  was  splendid,  the  sky 
cloudless,  and  the  moon  shining  brightly.  For 
about  half  an  hour  we  went  up  through  the  vine- 
yards by  a  rather  steep  path,  and  then  entered  the 
valley  of  the  Lyzeme,  about  700  feet  above  the 
torrent.  We  here  found  a  remarkably  good  path, 
gradually  rising  and  leading  towards  the  Col  de 
Cheville.  Having  followed  this  path  for  about 
three  houi'S,  we  struck  ofif  to  the  left,  and  began 
zigzagging  up  the  mountain-side  through  a  pine 
forest.  We  had  passed  what  may  be  called  the  snow- 
line in  winter  a  little  above  2,000  feet.  We  had  not 
ascended  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  in  this 
pine  forest  before  the  snow  got  very  deep  and  very 
soft.  We  had  to  change  leader  every  five  or  six 
minutes,  and  even  thus  our  progress  was  remarkably 
slow.  We  saw  clearly  that,  should  the  snow  be  as 
soft  above  the  fir  region,  we  should  have  to  give  up 
the  ascent.  At  7  a.m.  we  reached  a  chalet,  and 
stopped  for  about  twenty  minutes  to  rest  and  look 
at  the  sunrise  on  the  Diablerets.  On  observing  an 
aneroid,  which  we  had  brought  with  us,  we  found 
that  we  were  at  the  height  of  about  7,000  feet :  the 
temperature  was  —  1°  C. 

The  Haut  de  Cry  has  four  aretes,  the  first  running 
towards  the  W.,  the  second  SE.,  the  third  E.,  and 


194  HOURS   OF    EXERCISE    IN   THE    ALPS.  [1864 

the  foiirth  NE.  We  were  between  the  two  last- 
named  aretes.  Our  plan  was  to  go  up  between  them 
to  the^  foot  of  the  peak,  and  mount  it  by  the  arete 
running  NE.  As  we  had  expected,  the  snow  was  in 
much  better  state  when  once  we  were  above  the 
woods.  For  some  time  we  advanced  pretty  rapidly. 
The  peak  was  glistening  before  us,  and  the  idea  of 
success  put  us  in  high  spirits.  Our  good  fortune  did 
not  last  long ;  we  soon  came  to  snow  frozen  on  tlie 
surface,  and  capable  of  bearing  for  a  few  steps  and 
then  giving  way.  But  this  was  nothing  compared  to 
the  trouble  of  pulling  up  through  the  pine  wood,  so 
instead  of  making  us  grumble  it  only  excited  our 
hilarity.  Bennen  was  in  a  particularly  good  humour, 
and  laughed  aloud  at  our  combined  efforts  to  get  out 
of  the  holes  we  every  now  and  then  made  in  the  snow. 
Judging  from  appearances,  the  snow-field  over  which 
we  were  walking  covered  a  gradually  rising  Alp. 
We  made  a  second  observation  with  our  aneroid,  and 
found,  rather  to  our  astonishment  and  dismay,  that 
we  had  only  risen  1,000  feet  in  the  last  three  hours. 
It  was  10  o'clock :  we  were  at  the  height  of  about 
8,000  feet ;  temperature  =  —1*5  C.  Dm-ing  the 
last  half-hour  we  had  found  a  little  hard  snow,  so 
we  had  all  hope  of  success.  Tliinking  we  might 
advance  better  on  the  arete,  we  took  to  it,  and  rose 
along  it  for  some  time.  It  soon  became  cut  up  by 
rocks,  so  wc  took  to  the  snow  afraiii.     It  turned  out 


.864]  DEATH    OF   BENNEN.  195 

to  be  here  hard  frozen,  so  that  we  reached  the 
real  foot  of  the  peak  without  the  slightest  difl&culty. 
It  was  steeper  than  I  had  expected  it  would  be, 
judging  from  the  valley  of  the  Rhone.  Bennen 
looked  at  it  with  decided  pleasure  ;  having  completed 
his  survey,  he  proposed  to  take  the  eastern  arete,  as 
in  doing  so  we  should  gain  at  least  two  hours.  Eebot 
had  been  over  this  last-named  arete  in  summer,  and 
was  of  Bennen's  opinion.  Two  or  three  of  the  party 
did  not  like  the  idea  much,  so  there  was  a  discussion 
on  the  probable  advantages  and  disadvantages  of 
the  NE.  and  E.  aretes.  We  were  losing  time ;  so 
Bennen  cut  matters  short  by  saying  :  '  Ich  will  der 
Erste  liber  die  arete  ! '  Thus  saying,  he  made  for 
the  E.  arete ;  it  looked  very  narrow,  and,  what  was 
worse,  it  was  considerably  cut  up  by  high  rocks,  the 
intervals  between  the  teeth  of  the  arete  being  filled 
up  with  snow.  To  gain  this  arete,  we  had  to  go  up 
a  steep  snow-field,  about  800  feet  high,  as  well  as  I 
remember.  It  was  about  150  feet  broad  at  the  top, 
and  400  or  500  at  the  bottom.  It  was  a  sort  of 
couloir  on  a  large  scale.  During  the  ascent  we  sank 
about  one  foot  deep  at  every  step.  Bennen  did  not 
seem  to  like  the  look  of  the  snow  very  much.  He 
asked  the  local  guides  whether  avalanches  ever  came 
down  this  couloir,  to  which  they  answered  that  oui 
position  was  perfectly  safe.  We  had  mounted  on  the 
northern  side  of  the  couloir,  and  having:  arrived  at 


196  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  ;i864 

150  feet  from  the  top,  we  began  crossing  it  on  a 
horizontal  curve,  so  as  to  gain  the  E.  arke.  The 
inflexion  or  dip  of  the  couloir  was  slight,  not  above 
25  feet,  the  inclination  near  35°.  We  were  walking 
in  the  following  order :  Bevard,  Nance,  Bennen, 
myself,  Boissonnet,  and  Robot.  Having  crossed  over 
about  three-quarters  of  the  breadth  of  the  couloir, 
the  two  leading  men  suddenly  sank  considerably 
above  their  waists.  Bennen  tightened  the  rope. 
The  snow  was  too  deep  to  think  of  getting  out  of  the 
hole  they  had  made,  so  they  advanced  one  or  two 
steps,  dividing  the  snow  with  their  bodies.  Bennen 
turned  round  and  told  us  he  was  afraid  of  starting 
an  avalanche ;  we  asked  whether  it  would  not  be 
better  to  return  and  cross  the  couloir  higher  up. 
To  this  the  three  Ardon  men  opposed  themselves ; 
they  mistook  the  proposed  precaution  for  fear,  and 
the  two  leading  men  continued  their  work.  After 
three  or  four  steps  gained  in  the  aforesaid  manner, 
the  snow  became  hard  again.  Bennen  had  not 
moved — he  was  evidently  undecided  what  he  should 
do  ;  as  soon,  however,  as  he  saw  hard  snow  again,  he 
advanced  and  crossed  parallel  to,  but  above,  the  fur- 
row the  Ardon  men  had  made.  Strange  to  say,  the 
snow  supported  him.  While  he  was  passing  I  observed 
that  the  leader,  Bevard,  had  about  twenty  feet  of 
rope  coiled  round  his  shoulder.  I  of  course  at  once 
told  him  to  uncoil  it  and  get  on  the  arete,  from  which 


I86i]  DEATH   OF   BENNEN.  197 

he  was  not  more  than  fifteen  feet  distant.  Bennen 
then  told  me  to  follow.  I  tried  his  steps,  but  sank 
up  to  my  waist  in  the  very  first.  So  I  went  through 
the  furrows,  holding  my  elbows  close  to  my  body,  so 
as  not  to  touch  the  sides.  This  furrow  was  about 
twelve  feet  long,  and,  as  the  snow  was  good  on  the 
other  side,  we  had  all  come  to  the  false  conclusion 
that  the  snow  was  accidentally  softer  there  than  else- 
where. Boissonet  then  advanced ;  he  had  made  but 
a  few  steps  when  we  heard  a  deep,  cutting  sound. 
The  snow-field  split  in  two  about  fourteen  or  fifteen 
feet  above  us.  The  cleft  was  at  first  quite  narrow, 
not  more  than  an  inch  broad.  An  awful  silence 
ensued ;  it  lasted  but  a  few  seconds,  and  then  it  was 
broken  by  Bennen's  voice,  '  Wir  sind  alle  verloren.' 
His  words  were  slow  and  solemn,  and  those  who 
knew  him  felt  what  they  really  meant  when  spoken 
by  such  a  man  as  Bennen.  They  were  his  last 
words.  I  drove  my  alpenstock  into  the  snow,  and 
brought  the  weight  of  my  body  to  bear  on  it ;  it 
went  in  to  within  three  inches  of  the  top.  I  then 
waited.  It  was  an  awful  moment  of  suspense. 
I  turned  my  head  towards  Bennen  to  see  whether 
he  had  done  the  same  thing.  To  my  astonishment, 
I  saw  him  turn  round,  face  the  valley,  and  stretch 
out  both  arms.  The  ground  on  which  we  stood 
began  to  move  slowly,  and  I  felt  the  utter  use- 
lessness  of  any  alpenstock.     I  soon  sank  up  to  my 


198  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN    THE    ALPS.  [1864 

shoulders  and  began  descending  backwards.  From 
this  moment  I  saw  notliing  of  what  had  happened 
to  the  rest  of  the  party.  With  a  good  deal  of 
trouble  I  succeeded  in  turning  round.  The  speed 
of  the  avalanche  increased  rapidly,  and  before  long 
I  was  covered  up  with  snow  and  in  utter  darkness. 
I  was  suffocating,  when  vnth.  a  jerk  I  suddenly  came 
to  the  surface  again.  The  rope  had  caught  most 
probably  on  a  rock,  and  this  was  evidently  the 
moment  when  it  broke.  I  was  on  a  wave  of  the 
avalanche,  and  saw  it  before  me  as  I  was  carried 
down.  It  was  the  most  awful  sight  I  ever  wit- 
nessed. The  head  of  the  avalanche  was  already 
at  the  spot  where  we  had  made  our  last  halt.  The 
head  alone  was  preceded  by  a  thick  cloud  of  snow- 
dust  ;  the  rest  of  the  avalanche  was  clear.  Around 
me  I  heard  the  horrid  hissing  of  the  snow,  and  far 
before  me  the  thundering  of  the  foremost  part  of 
the  avalanche.  To  prevent  myself  sinking  again,  I 
made  use  of  my  arms  much  in  the  same  way  as 
when  swimming  in  a  standing  position.  At  last  I 
noticed  that  I  was  moving  slower ;  then  I  saw  the 
pieces  of  snow  in  front  of  me  stop  at  some  yards' 
distance  ;  then  the  snow  straight  before  me  stopped, 
and  I  heard  on  a  large  scale  the  same  creaking 
sound  that  is  produced  when  a  heavy  cart  passes 
over  hard-frozen  snow  in  winter.  I  felt  that  I  also 
had  stopped,  and  instantly  threw  up  both  arms  to 

I 


I8C4]  DEATH    OF   BENNEN.  199 

protect  my  head  in  case  I  should  again  be  covered 
up.  I  had  stopped,  but  the  snow  behind  me  was 
still  in  motion ;  its  pressure  on  my  body  was  so 
strong  that  I  thought  I  should  be  crushed  to  death. 
This  tremendous  pressure  lasted  but  a  short  time, 
and  ceased  as  suddenly  as  it  had  begun.  I  was 
then  covered  up  by  snow  coming  from  behind  me. 
My  first  impulse  was  to  try  and  uncover  my  head — 
but  this  I  could  not  do  :  the  avalanche  had  frozen  by 
pressure  the  moment  it  stopped,  and  I  was  frozen 
in.  Whilst  trying  vainly  to  move  my  arms,  I 
suddenly  became  aware  that  the  hands  as  far  as  the 
VTrist  had  the  faculty  of  motion.  The  conclusion 
was  easy,  they  must  be  above  the  snow.  I  set  to 
work  as  well  as  I  could ;  it  was  time,  for  I  could 
not  have  held  out  much  longer.  At  last  I  saw  a 
jfaint  glimmer  of  light.  The  crust  above  my  head 
was  getting  thinner,  and  it  let  a  little  air  pass, 
but  I  could  not  reach  it  any  more  with  my 
Ihands ;  the  idea  struck  mc  that  I  might  pierce 
it  with  my  breath.  After  several  efiforts  I  suc- 
ceeded in  doing  so,  and  felt  suddenly  a  rush  of  air 
towards  my  mouth  ;  I  saw  the  sky  again  through 
fi  little  round  hole.  A  dead  silence  reigned  around 
me ;  I  was  so  surprised  to  be  still  alive,  and  so 
persuaded  at  the  first  moment  that  none  of  my 
Tellow-sufferers  had  survived,  that  I  did  not  even 
ihink   of  shouting   for   them.     I  then  made   vain 


200  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1864 

eflforts  to  extricate  my  arms,  but  found  it  im- 
possible ;  tbe  most  I  could  do  was  to  join  the  ends 
of  my  fingers,  but  they  could  not  reach  the  snow 
any  longer.  After  a  few  minutes  I  heard  a  man 
shouting :  what  a  relief  it  was  to  know  that  I  was 
not  the  sole  survivor  !  to  know  that  perhaps  he  was 
not  frozen  in  and  could  come  to  my  assistance  !  I 
answered ;  the  voice  approached,  but  seemed  im- 
certain  where  to  go,  and  yet  it  was  now  quite  near. 
A  sudden  exclamation  of  surprise  !  Robot  had  seen 
my  hands.  He  cleared  my  head  in  an  instant,  and 
was  about  to  try  and  cut  me  out  completely,  when 
I  saw  a  foot  above  the  snow,  and  so  near  to  me  that 
I  could  touch  it  with  my  arms,  although  they  were 
not  quite  free  yet.  I  at  once  tried  to  move  the 
foot ;  it  was  my  poor  friend's.  A  pang  of  agony 
shot  through  me  as  I  saw  that  the  foot  did  not 
move.  Poor  Boissonnet  had  lost  sensation,  and  was 
perhaps  already  dead.  Robot  did  his  best:  after 
some  time  he  wished  me  to  help  him,  so  he  freed 
my  arms  a  little  more,  so  that  I  could  make  use  of 
them.  I  could  do  but  little,  for  Robot  had  torn  the 
axe  from  my  shoulder  as  soon  as  he  had  cleared  my 
head  (I  generally  carry  an  axe  separate  from  my 
alpenstock — the  blade  tied  to  the  belt,  and  the 
handle  attached  to  the  left  shoulder).  Before  com- 
ing to  me  Robot  had  helped  Nance  out  of  the  snow ; 
he  was  lying  nearly  horizontally,  and  was  not  much 


JOIIAXX    JOSEPH    BEXNEN. 


1864]  DEAIH   OF  BENNEN.  201 

covered  over.  Nance  found  Bevard,  who  was  up- 
right in  the  snow,  but  covered  up  to  the  head. 
After  about  twenty  minutes  the  two  last-named 
guides  came  up.  I  was  at  length  taken  out;  the 
snow  had  to  be  cut  with  the  axe  down  to  my  feet 
before  I  could  be  pulled  out.  A  few  minutes  after 
1  o'clock  P.M.  we  came  to  my  poor  friend's  face.  .  .  . 
I  wished  the  body  to  be  taken  out  completely,  but 
nothing  could  induce  the  three  guides  to  work  any 
longer,  from  the  moment  they  saw  that  it  was  too 
late  to  save  him.  I  acknowledge  that  they  were 
nearly  as  incapable  of  doing  anything  as  I  was. 
When  I  was  taken  out  of  the  snow  the  cord  had  to 
be  cut.  We  tried  the  end  going  towards  Bennen, 
but  could  not  move  it ;  it  went  nearly  straight 
down  and  showed  us  that  there  was  the  grave  of  the 
bravest  guide  the  Valais  ever  had,  and  ever  will 
have.  The  cold  had  done  its  work  on  us  ;  we  could 
stand  it  no  longer,  and  began  the  descent.  We 
followed  the  frozen  avalanche  for  about  twenty-five 
minutes,  that  being  the  easiest  way  of  progressing, 
and  then  took  the  track  we  had  made  in  the 
morning  ;  in  five  hours  we  reached  Ardon. 

I  have  purposely  put  apart  the  details  I  have  been 
asked  to  give  on  certain  points. 

1.  The  avalanche  consisted  only  of  snow;  the 
upper  stratum  was  eleven  days  old.  At  the  moment 
the  avalanche  started   it  was  about  twelve  o'clock. 


202  HOURS  OF  EXERCISE  IN  THE   ALPS.  [1864 

probably  a  few  minutes  before.  Tbe  temperature 
was  tben  above  freezing  point,  and  we  were  within 
300  or  350  feet  from  the  summit.  The  snow  was 
thawing,  and  the  whole  snow-field  in  a  state  of  uncer- 
tain equilibrium.  By  cutting  through  the  snow  at 
the  top  of  the  couloir  we  cut  one  of  the  main  points 
by  which  the  snow  of  the  two  different  layers  held 
together ;  what  led  us  into  the  error  was,  as  I  have 
before  said,  the  fact  that  the  snow  was  quite  hard  in 
some  places,  and  quite  soft  in  others.  The  avalanche 
may  have  taken  a  minute  to  descend ;  I  can  give  no 
correct  estimation  on  this  point.  "We  fell  between 
1,900  and  1,960  feet,  the  head  of  the  avalanche 
going  800  feet  lower. 

2.  The  rope  was  in  my  opinion  the  cause  of  my 
poor  friend's  as  well  as  of  Bennen's  deatli.  The 
following  facts  may  prove  it :  At  the  moment  the 
avalanche  started  the  first  and  last  guides  merely 
held  the  rope  ;  Bennen  had  not  seen  the  use  of  a  rope 
at  all,  so  we  had  been  less  strict  than  we  should 
otherwise  have  been  in  ts  use.  During  the  descent 
the  rope  caught,  probably  on  a  rock  below  the  surface. 
This  happened  between  Bennen  and  Nance,  that  is 
to  say  between  the  second  and  third  man  in  the 
marching  line.  Nance  told  me  afterwards  that  this 
was  the  worst  part  of  the  descent ;  he  had  the  pres- 
sure of  the  snow  on  his  body,  whilst  the  rope  nearly 
cut    him    in   two.      I  believe    that   it  was   at  this 


1861]  DEATH    OF   BENNEN.  203 

moment  that  Bennen  and  Boissonnet  lost  their 
upright  position,  owing  to  the  pressure  of  snow  on 
their  backs.  Nance  also  lost  his  position,  but  was 
fortunate  in  being  thrown  out  horizontally,  and 
that  almost  on  the  surface  of  the  avalanche.  I  was 
between  Bennen  and  Boissonnet,  but  not  tied  to 
the  rope,  as  I  had  iron  rings  to  my  belt  through 
which  the  cord  ran.  Eebot,  who  was  last  in  the 
line,  was  thrown  clean  out  of  the  avalanche;  he 
was  carried  during  the  descent  towards  one  of  the 
sides  of  the  stream.  He  was  the  only  one  of  us  who 
escaped  imhurt.  Thus,  when  we  stopped  in  our 
descent,  two  only  were  tied  to  the  rope — Boissonnet 
and  Bennen — the  very  two  who  perished. 

3.  The  congealing  of  the  snow  happened  by  pres- 
sure. The  fore  part  of  the  avalanche  stopped  first, 
and  the  rest  was  forced  against  it.  The  circumstance 
I  can  least  understand  is  the  sudden  fall  in  the  tem- 
perature of  the  air  after  the  accident.  I  can  give  no 
estimate  of  it,  but  it  was  intense. 

4.  The  bruises  Bevard,  Nance,  and  I  sustained 
were  slight,  but  our  feet  were  severely  frost-bitten. 
Bennen  has  been  accused  of  rashness  in  this  imfortu- 
nate  accident.  It  is  not  the  case.  He  was  misled 
by  the  total  difference  of  the  state  of  snow  in  a  winter 
ascent  from  what  is  to  be  met  with  in  summer. 


204  nouns  of  exekcise  in  the  alps.  [i86i 

I  have  been  recently  favoured  with  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Grossett,  from  which  the  following  is  an  ex- 
tract : 

'Berne:  Marcli  17,  1871. 

'  Bennen's  body  was  found  with  great  difficulty 
the  third  day  after  Boissonnet  was  found.  The  cord- 
end  had  been  covered  up  with  snow.  The  cure 
d'Ardon  informed  me  that  poor  Bennen  was  found 
eight  feet  under  the  snow,  in  a  horizontal  position, 
the  head  facing  the  valley  of  the  Lyzerne.  His 
watch  had  been  wrenched  from  the  chain,  probably 
when  the  cord  broke ;  the  chain,  however,  remained 
attached  to  his  waistcoat.  Three  years  ago  I  met 
one  of  my  Ardon  guides* ;  he  told  me  that  Bennen's 
watch  had  been  found  by  a  shepherd  seven  months 
after  the  accident.  This  shepherd  had  been  one  of 
the  party  who  went  up  to  look  for  Bennen  ;  during 
the  following  summer  he  had  watched  the  melting 
of  the  avalanche.  When  mounted,  the  watch 
obeyed.  This  reminds  me  of  your  fall  on  the 
Morteratsch  glacier.* 

'  I  know  you  were  very  much  attached  to  Bennen  ; 
the  same  was  the  case  with  him  in  regard  to  you. 
An  hour  before  his  death  the  Matterhom  showed  its 
black  head  over  one  of  the  aretes  of  the  Haut  de  Cry. 
I  asked  Bennen  whether  lie  thought  it  would  ever 
be  ascended.     His  answer  was  a  decided  "  Yes " ; 

'  Sec  Chapter  XIX. 


1864]  DEATH   OF   BENNEN.  205 

but  he  added,  alluding  to  your  last  attack  on  the 
mountain,  "  Wir  waren  fiinf ;  der  Professor  und  ich 
stimmten  fiir  Vorwarts ;  die  drei  andem  stimmten 
dagegen." 

'There  is  one  circumstance  in  reference  to  my 
fall  with  the  avalanche  of  the  Haut  de  Cry  that 
I  am  utterly  unable  to  understand :  I  mean  what 
physical  phenomena  took  place  when  the  avalanche 
stopped  and  froze.  It  stopped  because  in  its  pro- 
gress downwards  the  broad  couloir  down  which  it 
was  going  got  narrower,  and  the  mass  of  snow  could 
not  pass.  It  froze  because  the  successive  portions 
of  the  body  of  the  avalanche  became  compressed 
against  the  head,  which  latter  had  come  to  a  stop. 
When  the  layer  in  which  I  was  stopped,  the  pres- 
sure on  my  body  was  enormous — so  gTeat,  in  fact, 
that  I  expected  I  should  be  crushed  flat.  This 
pressure  ceased  suddenly :  I  know  it,  for  the  atro- 
cious pains  it  was  causing  ceased  suddenly  too. 
"What  happened  during  that  interval  ?  ' 

[Bennen  was  well  acquainted  with  winter  snow , 
but  no  man  of  his  temper,  and  in  his  position, 
would  place  himself  in  direct  opposition  to  local 
guides,  whose  knowledge  of  the  mountain  must 
have  been  superior  to  his  own.] 


10 


206  HOURS   OF   £X£BCIS£   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1864 


XIX 

ACCIDENT  ON  THE  PIZ  MORTERATSCH. 

While  staying  at  Pontresina  in  1864  I  joined  Mr. 
Hutchinson,  and  Mr.  Lee-Warner,  of  Eugby,  in  a 
memorable  expedition  up  the  Piz  Morteratsch.  This 
is  a  very  noble  mountain,  and,  as  we  thought,  safe 
and  easy  to  ascend.  The  resolute  Jenni,  by  far  the 
boldest  man  in  Pontresina,  was  my  guide ;  while 
Walter,  the  ofificial  guide  chef,  was  taken  by  my 
companions.  With  a  dubious  sky  overhead,  we 
started  on  the  morning  of  July  30,  a  little  after 
four  A.M.  There  is  rarely  much  talk  at  the  begin- 
ning of  a  mountain  excursion :  you  are  either  sleepy 
or  solemn  so  early  in  the  day.  Silently  we  passed 
through  the  pine  woods  of  the  beautiful  Rosegg 
valley,  watching  anxiously  at  intervals  the  play  of 
the  clouds  aroimd  the  adjacent  heights.  At  one 
place  a  spring  gushed  from  the  valley-bottom,  as 
clear  and  almost  as  copious  as  that  which  pours  out 
the  full-formed  river  Albula.     The  traces  of  ancient 


1864J  ACCIDENT    ON    THE   PIZ   MORTERATSCH.  207 

glaciers  were  present  .everywhere,  the  valley  being 
thickly  covered  with  the  rubbish  which  the  ice  had 
left  behind.  An  ancient  moraine,  so  large  that  in 
England  it  might  take  rank  as  a  mountain,  forms  a 
barrier  across  the  upper  valley.  Once  probably  it 
was  the  dam  of  a  lake,  but  it  is  now  cut  through  by 
the  river  which  rushes  from  the  Eosegg  glacier. 
These  works  of  the  ancient  ice  are  to  the  mind  what 
a  distant  horizon  is  to  the  eye.  They  give  to  the 
imagination  both  pleasure  and  repose. 

The  morning,  as  I  have  said,  looked  threatening, 
but  the  wind  was  good ;  by  degrees  the  cloud-scowl 
relaxed,  and  broader  patches  of  blue  became  visible 
above  us.  We  called  at  the  Eosegg  chalets,  and 
had  some  milk.  "We  afterwards  wound  round  a 
shoulder  of  the  hill,  at  times  upon  the  moraine  of 
the  glacier,  and  at  times  upon  the  adjacent  grass 
slope  ;  then  over  shingly  inclines,  covered  with  the 
shot  rubbish  of  the  heights.  Two  ways  were  now 
open  to  us,  the  one  easy  but  circuitous,  the  other 
stiff  but  short.  AValter  was  for  the  former,  and 
Jenni  for  the  latter,  their  respective  choices  being 
characteristic  of  the  two  men.  To  my  satisfaction 
Jenni  prevailed,  and  we  scaled  the  steep  and  slippery 
rocks.  At  the  top  of  them  we  found  ourselves  upon 
the  rim  of  an  extended  snow-field.  Our  rope  was 
here  exhibited,  and  we  were  bound  by  it  to  a  com- 
tnon  destiny.    In  those  higher  regions  the  snow-fields 


208  UOCBS   OF   EXERCISE    IN   THE   ALPS.  [1864 

show  a  beauty  and  a  purity c  of  which  persons  who 
linger  low  down  have  no  notion.  We  crossed 
crevasses  and  bergschrunds,  mounted  vast  snow- 
basses,  and  doubled  round  walls  of  ice  with  long 
stalactites  pendent  from  their  eaves.  One  by  one 
the  eminences  were  surmounted.  The  crowning 
rock  was  attained  at  half-past  twelve.  On  it  we 
uncorked  a  bottle  of  champagne  ;  mixed  with  the 
pure  snow  of  the  mountain,  it  formed  a  beverage, 
and  was  enjoyed  with  a  gusto,  which  the  sybarite  of 
the  city  could  neither  imitate  nor  share. 

We  spent  about  an  hour  upon  the  warm  gneiss- 
blocks  on  the  top.  Veils  of  cloud  screened  us  at 
intervals  from  the  sun,  and  then  we  felt  the  keen- 
ness of  the  air ;  but  in  general  we  were  clieered  and 
comforted  by  the  solar  light  and  warmth.  The 
shiftings  of  the  atmosphere  were  wonderful.  The 
white  peaks  were  draped  with  opalescent  clouds 
which  never  lingered  for  two  consecutive  minutes 
in  the  same  position.  Clouds  differ  widely  from 
each  other  in  point  of  beauty,  but  I  had  hardly  seen 
them  more  beautiful  than  they  appeared  to-day, 
while  the  succession  of  surprises  experienced  through 
their  changes  were  such  as  rarely  fall  to  the  lot  even 
of  an  experienced  mountaineer. 

These  clouds  are  for  the  most  part  produced  by 
the  chilling  of  the  air  through  its  own  expansion. 
When   tlius   chilled,    tlie   aqueous    vapour   diffused 


864]  ACCIDENT   ON    THE   PIZ   MORTEEATSCH.  209 

through  it,  which  is  previously  unseen,  is  precipi- 
tated in  visible  particles.  Every  particle  of  the 
cloud  has  consumed  in  its  formation  a  little  poly- 
hedron of  vapour,  and  a  moment's  reflection  will 
make  it  clear  that  the  size  of  the  cloud-particles 
must  depend,  not  only  on  the  size  of  the  vapour 
polyhedron,  but  on  the  relation  of  the  density  of  the 
vapour  to  that  of  its  liquid.  If  the  vapour  were 
light  and  the  liquid  heavy,  other  things  being 
equal,  the  cloud-particle  would  be  smaller  than  if 
the  vapour  were  heavy  and  the  liquid  light.  There 
would  evidently  be  more  shrinkage  in  the  one  case 
than  in  the  other.  Now  there  are  various  liquids 
whose  weight  is  not  greater  than  that  of  water, 
while  the  weight  of  their  vapours,  bulk  for  bulk,  is 
five  or  six  times  that  of  aqueous  vapour.  When 
those  heavy  vapours  are  precipitated  as  clouds, 
which  is  easily  done  artificially,  their  particles  are 
found  to  be  far  coarser  than  those  of  an  aqueous 
cloud.  Indeed  water  is  without  a  parallel  in  this 
particular.  Its  vapour  is  the  lightest  of  all  vapours, 
and  to  this  fact  the  soft  and  tender  beauty  of  the 
clouds  of  our  atmosphere  is  mainly  due.' 

After  an  hour's  halt  upon  the  summit  the  descent 
began.  Jenni  is  the  most  daring  man  and  power- 
ful character  among  the  guides  of  Pontresina. 
The  manner  in  which  he  bears  down  all  the  others 

'  Chapter  V.,  p.  405,  is  devoted  to  '  Clouds.'   See  also  note,  p.  82. 


210  HOURS    OF   EXERCISE   IN    THE    ALPS.  [1864 

in  conversation,  and  imposes  his  own  will  upon 
them,  shows  that  he  is  the  dictator  of  the  place. 
He  is  a  large  and  rather  an  ugly  man,  and  his 
progress  up  hill,  though  resistless,  is  slow.  He  had 
repeatedly  expressed  a  wish  to  make  an  excursion 
with  me,  and  on  this  occasion  he  may  have  desired 
to  show  us  what  he  could  do  upon  the  mountains. 
He  accomplished  two  daring  things — the  one  success- 
fully, while  the  other  was  within  a  hair's-breadth 
of  a  very  shocking  issue. 

In  descending  we  went  straight  down  upon  a 
bergschrund,  which  had  compelled  us  to  make  a 
circuit  in  coming  up.  This  particular  kind  of 
fissure  is  formed  by  the  lower  portion  of  a  snow- 
slope  falling  away  from  the  upper,  a  crevasse  being 
thus  formed  between  both,  which  often  surrounds 
the  mountain  as  a  fosse  of  terrible  depth.  Walter 
was  the  first  of  our  party,  and  Jenni  was  the  last. 
It  was  quite  evident  that  the  leader  hesitated  to 
cross  the  chasm  ;  but  Jenni  came  forward,  and  half 
by  expostulation,  half  by  command,  caused  him  to 
sit  down  on  the  snow  at  some  height  above  the 
fissure.  I  think,  moreover,  he  helped  him  with  a 
shove.  At  all  events,  the  slope  was  so  steep  that 
the  guide  shot  down  it  with  an  impetus  sufficient  to 
carry  him  clear  over  the  schrund.  We  all  after- 
wards shot  the  chasm  in  this  pleasant  way.  Jenni 
was     behind.       Deviating     from     our     track,    he 


1864]  ACCIDENT   ON   THE   PIZ  MORTERATSCH.  211 

deliberately  chose  the  widest  part  of  the  chasm,  and 
shot  over  it,  lumbering  like  behemoth  down  the 
snow-slope  at  the  other  side.  It  was  an  illustration 
of  that  practical  knowledge  which  long  residence 
among  the  mountains  can  alone  impart,  and  in  the 
possession  of  which  our  best  English  climbers  fall 
far  behind  their  guides. 

The  remaining  steep  slopes  were  also  descended 
by  glissade,  and  we  afterwards  marched  cheerily 
over  the  gentler  inclines.  We  had  ascended  by 
the  Eosegg  glacier,  and  now  we  wished  to  descend 
upon  the  Morteratsch  glacier  and  make  it  our  high- 
way home. 

We  reached  the  point  at  which  it  was  necessary 
to  quit  our  morning's  track,  and  immediately 
afterwards  got  upon  some  steep  rocks,  rendered 
slippery  here  and  there  by  the  water  which  trickled 
over  them.  To  our  right  was  a  broad  couloir, 
filled  with  snow,  which  had  been  melted  and  re- 
frozen,  so  as  to  expose  a  steeply  sloping  wall  of  ice. 
We  were  tied  together  in  the  following  order : 
Jenni  led,  I  came  next,  then  Mr.  Hutchinson,  a 
practised  mountaineer,  then  INIr.  Lee-Warner,  and 
last  of  all  the  guide  Walter.  Lee-Warner  had  had 
but  little  experience  of  the  higher  Alps,  and  he  was 
placed  in  front  of  Walter,  so  that  any  false  step  on 
bis  part  might  be  instantly  checked. 

After  descending  the  rocks  for  a  time  Jenni  turned 


212  nOUKS    OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1864 

and  asked  me  whether  I  thought  them  or  the  ice-slope 
the  better  track.  I  pronounced  without  hesitation  in 
favour  of  the  rocks,  but  he  seemed  to  misunderstand 
me,  and  turned  towards  the  couloir.  I  stopped 
him  at  the  edge  of  it,  and  said,  '  Jenni,  you  know 
where  you  are  going;  the  slope  is  pure  ice.'  He 
.•eplied,  '  I  know  it ;  but  the  ice  is  quite  bare  for  a 
few  yards  only.  Across  this  exposed  portion  I  will 
cut  steps,  and  then  the  snow  which  covers  the  ice 
will  give  us  a  footing.'  He  cut  the  steps,  reached 
the  snow,  and  descended  carefully  along  it,  all  fol- 
lowing him,  apparently  in  good  order.  After  some 
time  he  stopped,  turned,  and  looked  upwards  at  the 
last  three  men.  '  Keep  carefully  in  the  steps,  gentle- 
men,' he  said ;  '  a  false  step  here  might  detach  an 
avalanche.'  The  word  was  scarcely  uttered  when  I 
heard  the  sound  of  a  fall  behind  me,  then  a  rush, 
and  in  a  moment  my  two  friends  and  their  guide,  all 
apparently  entangled  together,  whirred  past  me.  I 
suddenly  planted  myself  to  resist  their  shock,  but  in 
an  instant  I  was  in  their  wake,  for  their  impetus  was 
irresistible.  A  moment  afterwards  Jenni  was  whirled 
away,  and  thus,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  all  five 
of  us  found  ourselves  riding  downwards  with  un- 
controllable speed  on  the  back  of  an  avalanche 
which  a  single  slip  had  originated. 

Previous  to  stepping  on  the  slope,  I  had,  accord- 
ing to  habit,  made  clear  to  my  mind  what  was  to  bo 


864]  ACCIDENT    ON   THE    PIZ   MORTERATSCH.  213 

done  in  case  of  mishap  ;  and  accordingly,  when  over- 
thrown, I  turned  promptly  on  my  face  and  drove  my 
baton  through  the  moving  snow,  and  into  the  ice 
underneath.  No  time,  however,  was  allowed  for  the 
break's  action ;  for  I  had  held  it  firmly  thus  for  a 
few  seconds  only,  when  I  came  into  collision  with 
some  obstacle  and  was  rudely  tossed  through  the  air, 
Jenni  at  the  same  time  being  shot  down  upon  me. 
Both  of  us  here  lost  our  batons.  We  had  been  carried 
over  a  crevasse,  had  hit  its  lower  edge,  and,  instead 
of  dropping  into  it,  were  pitched  by  our  great  velo- 
city far  beyond  it.  I  was  quite  bewildered  for  a 
moment,  but  immediately  righted  myself,  and  could 
see  the  men  in  front  of  me  half  buried  in  the  snow, 
and  jolted  from  side  to  side  by  the  ruts  among  which 
we  were  passing.  Suddenly  I  saw  them  tiunbled 
over  by  a  lurch  of  the  avalanche,  and  immediately 
afterwards  found  myself  imitating  their  motion. 
This  was  caused  by  a  second  crevasse.  Jenni  knew 
of  its  existence  and  plunged,  he  told  me,  right  into 
it — a  brave  act,  but  for  the  time  unavailing.  By 
jumping  into  the  chasm  he  thought  a  strain  might 
be  put  upon  the  rope  sufficient  to  check  the  motion. 
But,  though  over  thirteen  stone  in  weight,  he  was 
violently  jerked  out  of  the  fissure  and  almost 
squeezed  to  death  by  the  pressure  of  the  rope. 

A  long  slope  was  below  us,  which  led  directly  down- 
wards to  a  brow  where  the  glacier  ftdl  precipitously. 


214  HOURS   OF    EXERCISE   IN    THE    ALPS.  [1864 

At  the  base  of  the  declivity  the  ice  was  cut  by  a 
series  of  profound  chasms,  towards  which  we  were 
rapidly  borne.  The  three  foremost  men  rode  upon  the 
forehead  of  the  avalanche,  and  were  at  times  almost 
wholly  immersed  in  the  snow  ;  but  the  moving  layer 
was  thinner  behind,  and  Jenni  rose  incessantly  and 
with  desperate  energy  drove  his  feet  into  the  firmer 
substance  underneath.  His  voice,  shouting  'Halt! 
Herr  Jesus,  halt ! '  was  the  only  one  heard  during 
the  descent.  A  kind  of  condensed  memory,  such  as 
that  described  by  people  who  have  narrowly  escaped 
drowning,  took  possession  of  me,  and  my  power  of 
reasoning  remained  intact.  I  thought  of  Eennen  on 
the  Haut  de  Cry,  and  muttered, '  It  is  now  my  turn.' 
Then  I  coolly  scanned  the  men  in  front  of  mo,  and 
reflected  that,  if  their  vis  viva  was  the  only  tiling  to 
be  neutralised,  Jenni  and  myself  could  stop  them ; 
but  to  arrest  both  them  and  the  mass  of  snow  in 
which  they  were  caught  was  hopeless.  I  expe- 
rienced no  intolerable  dread.  In  fact,  the  start  was 
too  sudden  and  the  excitement  of  the  rush  too  great 
to  permit  of  the  development  of  terror. 

Looking  in  advance,  I  noticed  that  the  slope,  for 
a  short  distance,  became  less  steep,  and  then  fell  as 
before.  '  Now  or  never  we  must  be  brought  to  rest.' 
The  speed  visibly  slackened,  and  I  thought  we  were 
saved.  But  the  momentum  had  been  too  great : 
the  avalanche  crossed  tlie  brow  and  in  part  regained 


i864j  ACCIDENT   ON   THE   PIZ   MORTEKATSCH.  215 

its  motion.  Here  Hutchinson  threw  his  arm  romid 
his  friend,  all  hope  being  extinguished,  while  I 
grasped  my  belt  and  struggled  to  free  myself. 
Finding  this  diflScult,  from  the  tossing,  I  sullenly 
resTimed  the  strain  upon  the  rope.  Destiny  had 
so  related  the  downward  impetus  to  Jenni's  pull 
as  to  give  the  latter  a  slight  advantage,  and  the 
whole  question  was  whether  the  opposing  force 
would  have  sufficient  time  to  act.  This  was  also 
arranged  in  our  favour,  for  we  came  to  rest  so  near 
the  brow  that  two  or  three  seconds  of  our  average 
motion  of  descent  must  have  carried  us  over.  Had 
this  occurred,  we  should  have  fallen  into  the  chasms, 
and  been  covered  up  by  the  tail  of  the  avalanche. 
Hutchinson  emerged  from  the  enow  with  his  fore- 
head bleeding,  but  the  wound  was  superficial;  Jenni 
had  a  bit  of  flesh  removed  from  his  hand  by  collision 
against  a  stone ;  the  pressure  of  the  rope  had  left 
black  welts  on  my  arms ;  and  we  all  experienced  a 
tingling  sensation  over  the  hands,  like  that  pro- 
duced by  incipient  frostbite,  which  continued  for 
several  days.  This  was  all.  I  found  a  portion  of 
my  watch-chain  hanging  round  my  neck,  another 
portion  in  my  pocket ;  the  watch  was  gone. 

This  happened  on  the  30th  of  July.  Two  days 
afterwards  I  went  to  Italy,  and  remained  there 
for  ten  or  twelve  days.  On  the  16th  of  August, 
being  again  at  Pontresina,  I  made  on  that  day  an 


216  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN   THE    ALPS.  [18W 

expedition  in  search  of  the  lost  watch.  Both  the 
guides  and  myself  thought  the  sun's  heat  might 
melt  the  sno^Y  above  it,  and  I  inferred  that  if  its 
back  should  happen  to  be  uppermost  the  slight 
.absorbent  power  of  gold  for  the  solar  rays  would 
prevent  the  watch  from  sinking  as  a  stone  sinks 
under  like  circumstances.  The  watch  would  thus 
be  brought  quite  to  the  surface ;  and,  although  a 
small  object,  it  might  possibly  be  seen  from  some 
distance.  Five  friends  accompanied  me  up  the 
Morteratsch  glacier.  One  of  them  was  the  late 
Mr.  North,  member  for  Hastings,  a  most  lovable 
man.  He  was  then  sixty-four  years  of  age,  but  he 
exhibited  a  courage  and  collectedness,  and  indeed  a 
delight,  in  the  wild  savagery  of  the  crevasses  which 
were  perfectly  admirable. 

Two  only  of  the  party,  both  competent  moun- 
taineers, accompanied  me  to  the  track  of  our  glis- 
sade, but  none  of  us  ventm-ed  on  the  ice  where  it 
originated.  Just  before  stepping  upon  the  snow, 
a  stone  some  tons  in  weight,  detached  by  tlie  sun 
from  the  heights  above  us,  came  rushing  down  the 
line  of  our  descent.  Its  leaps  became  more  and  more 
impetuous,  and  on  reaching  the  brow  near  which  we 
had  been  brought  to  rest  it  bounded  through  the 
air,  and  with  a  single  spring  reached  the  lower 
glacier,  raising  a  cloud  of  ice-dust.  Some  frag- 
ments of  rope  found  upon  tlie  snow  assru'ed  us  that 


I8«4]  ACCIDENT    ON   THE   PIZ   MORTERATSCH.  217 

we  were  upon  the  exact  track  of  the  avalanche,  and 
then  the  search  commenced.  It  had  not  continued 
twenty  minutes  when  a  cheer  from  one  of  the  guides 
— Christian  Michel  of  Grindelwald — announced 
the  discovery  of  the  watch.  It  had  been  brought 
to  the  surface  in  the  manner  surmised,  and  on  ex- 
amination seemed  to  be  dry  and  uninjured.  I 
noticed,  moreover,  that  the  position  of  the  hands 
indicated  that  it  had  only  run  down  beneath  the 
snow.  I  wound  it  up,  hardly  hoping,  however,  to 
find  it  capable  of  responding.  But  it  showed  instant 
signs  of  animation.  It  had  remained  eighteen  days 
in  the  avalanche,  but  the  application  of  its  key  at 
once  restored  it  to  action,  and  it  has  gone  with 
unvarying  regularity  ever  since 


JNIr.  Hutchinson  has  published  the  following  note 
of  tlie  accident  in  the  '  Alpine  Journal ' : 

'  As  one  of  the  party  concerned  in  the  accident  on 
the  Piz  Morteratsch  last  July,  I  trust  I  shall  not  be 
thought  presumptuous  in  bearing  my  testimony  to 
the  entire  accuracy  of  Professor  Tyndall's  account. 
I  can  add  no  facts  of  any  importance  to  those  there 
mentioned,  unless  it  be  that  we  estimated  the  dis- 
tance down  which  we  were  carried  at  fully  1,000 
feet — a  conclusion  which,  Mr.  Tyndall  tells  me,  was 
confirmed  by  his  subsequent  visit  to  the  spot.  The 
angle  of  the  slope  we  did  not  measure,  nor  can  I 


218  HOUES   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1864 

give  the  time  of  our  descent  with  any  accuracy ;  it 
seemed  to  me  a  lifetime.  From  the  moment  that 
the  snow  cracked,  Jenni  behaved  with  the  greatest 
coolness  and  courage.  But  he  ought  not  to  have 
taken  us  down  the  ice-slope  so  late  in  the  day — it 
was  then  nearly  half-past  two  o'clock — and  that 
after  a  warning  word  from  Professor  Tyndall  and 
myself.  Of  Walter's  conduct  the  less  said  the 
better;  our  opinion  of  his  courage  was  not  raised 
by  this  trial  of  it.' 

[Until  Mr.  Grossett's  letter  reached  me  a  few  days 
ago  I  was  not  aware  of  the  singular  likeness  between 
the  loss  of  Bennen's  watch  and  of  my  own.-— April 
1871.] 


TUE   GORGE   OF   PFEFFEK8   (SHOWING   EROSIVE   ACTIOX). 


1864'  ALPINE  SCULPTURE.  219 


XX. 

ALPINE  SCULPTURE. 

To  tlie  physical  geologist  the  conformation  of  the 
Alps,  and  of  mountain-regions  generally,  constitutes 
one  of  the  most  interesting  problems  of  the  present 
day.  To  account  for  this  conformation,  two  hypo- 
theses have  been  advanced,  -which  may  be  respect- 
ively named  the  hypothesis  of  fracture  and  the 
hypothesis  of  erosion.  Those  who  adopt  the  for- 
mer maintain  that  the  forces  by  which  the  Alps 
were  elevated  produced  iissures  in  the  earth's  crust, 
and  that  the  valleys  of  the  Alps  are  the  tracks  of 
these  fissures.  Those  who  hold  the  latter  hypothesis 
maintain  that  the  valleys  have  been  cut  out  by  the 
action  of  ice  and  water,  the  mountains  themselves 
being  the  residual  forms  of  this  grand  sculpture. 
To  the  erosive  action  here  indicated  must  be  added 
that  due  to  the  atmosphere  (the  severance  and  de- 
tachment of  rocks  by  rain  and  frost),  as  aflfecting 
the  forms  of  the  more  exposed  and  elevated  peaks. 

I  had  heard  it  stated  that  the  Via  Mala  was  a 

striking  illustration  of  the  fissure  theory — that  the 

■  profound  chasm  thus  named,  and  through  which  the 


220  HOURS   OF    EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1864 

Hinter-Rhein  now  flows,  could  be  nothing  else  thar 
a  crack  in  the  earth's  crust.  To  the  Via  Mala  I 
therefore  went  in  1864  to  instruct  myself  by  actual 
observation  upon  the  point  in  question. 

The  gorge  commences  about  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  above  Tusis ;  and,  on  entering  it,  the  first 
conclusion  is  that  it  must  be  a  fissure.  This  con- 
clusion in  my  case  was  modified  as  I  advanced. 
Some  distance  up  the  gorge  I  found  upon  the  slopes 
to  my  right  quantities  of  rolled  stones,  evidently 
roimded  by  water-action.  Still  further  up,  and  just 
before  reaching  the  first  bridge  which  spans  the 
chasm,  I  found  more  rolled  stones,  associated  with 
sand  and  gravel.  Through  this  mass  of  detritus, 
fortunately,  a  vertical  cutting  had  been  made,  which 
exhibited  a  section  showing  perfect  stratification. 
There  was  no  agency  in  the  place  to  roll  these 
stones,  and  to  deposit  these  alternating  layers  of 
eand  and  pebbles,  but  the  river  which  now  rushes 
some  hundreds  of  feet  below  them.  At  one  period 
of  the  Via  Mala's  history  the  river  must  have  run  at 
this  high  level.  Other  evidences  of  water-action 
soon  revealed  themselves.  From  the  parapet  of  the 
first  bridge  I  could  see  the  solid  rock  200  feet  above 
the  bed  of  the  river  scooped  and  eroded. 

It  is  stated  in  the  guide-books  that  the  river, 
which  usually  runs  along  the  bottom  of  the  gorge,  has 
been  known  almost  to  fill  it  during  violent  thunder- 


1864]  ALPINE   SCULPTURE.  221 

Btorms;  and  it  may  be  urged  that  the  marks  of 
erosion  which  the  sides  of  the  chasm  exhibit  are  due 
to  those  occasional  floods.  In  reply  to  this,  it  may 
be  stated  that  even  the  existence  of  such  floods  is  not 
well  authenticated,  and  that  if  the  supposition  were 
true,  it  would  be  an  additional  argument  in  favour 
of  the  cutting  power  of  the  river.  For  if  floods 
operating  at  rare  intervals  could  thus  erode  the 
rock,  the  same  agency,  acting  without  ceasing  upon 
the  river's  bed,  must  certainly  be  competent  to 
excavate  it. 

I  proceeded  upwards,  and  from  a  point  near 
another  bridge  (which  of  them  I  did  not  note)  had 
a  fine  view  of  a  portion  of  the  gorge.  The  river 
here  runs  at  the  bottom  of  a  cleft  of  profound 
depth,  but  so  narrow  that  it  might  be  leaped  across. 
That  this  cleft  must  be  a  crack  is  the  impression 
first  produced;  but  a  brief  inspection  suffices  to 
prove  that  it  has  been  cut  by  the  river.  From  top 
to  bottom  we  have  the  unmistakable  marks  of 
erosion.  This  cleft  was  best  seen  by  looking  down- 
wards from  a  point  near  the  bridge  ;  but  looking 
upwards  from  the  bridge  itself,  the  evidence  of 
aqueous  erosion  was  equally  convincing. 

The  character  of  the  erosion  depends  upon  the 
rock  as  well  as  upon  the  river.  The  action  of  water 
upon  some  rocks  is  almost  purely  mechanical ;  they 
are   simply  ground  away  or  detached  in   sensible 


222  HOURS    OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1864 

masses.  In  other  cases  the  action  is  chemical  as  well 
as  mechanical.  Water,  in  passing  over  limestone, 
charges  itself  with  carbonate  of  lime  without  da- 
mage to  its  transparency ;  the  rock  is  dissolved  in  the 
water ;  and  the  gorges  cut  by  water  in  such  rocks 
often  resemble  those  cut  in  the  ice  of  glaciers  by 
glacier  streams.  To  the  solubility  of  limestone  is 
probably  to  be  ascribed  the  fantastic  forms  which 
peaks  of  this  rock  usually  assume,  and  also  the 
gTottos  and  caverns  which  interpenetrate  limestone 
formations.  A  rock  capable  of  being  thus  dissolved 
will  expose  a  smooth  surface  after  the  water  has 
quitted  it ;  and  in  the  case  of  the  Via  Mala  it  is  the 
polish  of  the  surfaces,  and  also  the  curved  hollows 
scooped  in  the  sides  of  the  gorge,  which  assure  us 
that  the  chasm  has  been  the  work  of  the  river. 

About  four  miles  from  Tusis,  and  not  far  from 
the  little  village  of  Zillis,  the  Via  Mala  opens  into  a 
plain  bounded  by  high  terraces,  evidently  cut  by 
water.  It  occurred  to  me  the  moment  I  saw  it  that 
the  plain  had  been  the  bed  of  an  ancient  lake  ;  and 
a  farmer,  who  was  my  temporary  companion,  imme- 
diately informed  mo  that  such  was  the  tradition  of 
the  neighbourhood.  This  man  conversed  with  intel- 
ligence, and  as  I  drew  his  attention  to  the  rolled 
stones,  which  rest  not  only  above  the  river,  but  above 
the  road,  and  inferred  that  the  river  must  have  been 
there  to  have  rolled  those  stones,  he  saw  the  force  of 


1864]  ALPINE    SCULPTURE.  223 

the  evidence  perfectly.  In  fact,  in  former  times,  and 
subsequent  to  the  retreat  of  the  great  glaciers,  a 
rocky  barrier  crossed  the  valley  at  this  place,  dam- 
ming the  river  which  came  from  the  glaciers  higher 
up.  A  lake  was  thus  formed  which  poured  its 
waters  over  the  barrier.  Two  actions  were  here  at 
work,  both  tending  to  obliterate  the  lake — the  rais- 
ing' of  its  bed  by  the  deposition  of  detritus,  and  the 
cutting  of  its  dam  by  the  river.  In  process  of  time 
the  cut  deepened  into  the  Via  Mala ;  the  lake  was 
drained,  and  the  river  now  flows  in  a  definite 
channel  through  the  plain  which  its  waters  once 
totally  covered. 

From  Tusis  I  crossed  to  Tiefenkasten  by  the 
Schien  Pass,  and  thence  over  the  Julier  Pass  to 
Pontresina.  There  are  three  or  four  ancient  lake- 
beds  between  Tiefenkasten  and  the  summit  of  the 
Julier.  They  are  all  of  the  same  type — a  more  or 
less  broad  and  level  valley-bottom,  with  a  barrier  in 
front  through  which  the  river  has  cut  a  passage,  the 
drainage  of  the  lake  being  the  consequence.  These 
lakes  are  sometimes  dammed  by  barriers  of  rock, 
sometimes  by  the  moraines  of  ancient  glaciers. 

An  example  of  this  latter  kind  occurs  in  the  Kosegg 
valley,  about  twenty  minutes  below  the  end  of  the 
Rosegg  glacier,  and  about  an  hour  from  Pontresina. 
The  valley  hero  is  crossed  by  a  pine-covered  moraine 
of  the  noblest  dimensions  :  in  the  neighbourhood  of 


224  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1864 

London  it  might  be  called  a  mountain.  That  it  is 
a  moraine,  the  inspection  of  it  from  a  point  on  the 
Surlei  slopes  above  it  will  convince  any  person  pos- 
sessing an  educated  eye.  Where,  moreover,  the  in- 
terior of  the  mound  is  exposed,  it  exhibits  moraine- 
matter — detritus  pulverised  by  the  ice,  with  boulders  ■ 
entangled  in  it.  It  stretched  quite  across  the  valley, 
and  at  one  time  dammed  the  river  up.  But  now  the  i 
barrier  is  cut  through,  the  stream  having  about  one-; 
fourth  of  the  moraine  to  its  right,  and  the  remaining 
three-fourths  to  its  left.  Other  moraines  of  a  more 
resisting  character  hold  their  ground  as  barriers  to 
the  present  day.  In  the  Val  di  Campo,  for  example, 
about  three-quarters  of  an  hour  from  Pisciadello, 
there  is  a  moraine  composed  of  large  boulders,  which 
interrupt  the  course  of  a  river  and  compel  the  water 
to  fall  over  them  in  cascades.  They  have  in  great 
part  resisted  its  action  since  the  retreat  of  the 
ancient  glacier  which  formed  the  moraine.  Behind 
the  moraine  is  a  lake-bed,  now  converted  into  a 
meadow,  which  is  quite  level,  and  rests  on  a  deep 
layer  of  mould. 

At  Pontresina  a  very  fine  and  instructive  gorge  ia 
to  be  seen.  The  river  from  the  Mortcratsch  glacier 
rushes  through  a  deep  and  narrow  chasm  which  is 
spanned  at  one  place  by  a  stone  bridge.  The  rock 
is  not  of  a  character  to  preserve  smooth  polishing ; 
but  the  larger  features  of  water-action  are  perfectly 


1864]  ALPINE   SCULPTURE.  225 

evident  from  top  to  bottom.  Those  features  are  in 
part  visible  from  the  bridge,  but  still  better  from 
a  point  a  little  distance  from  the  bridge  in  the 
direction  of  the  upper  village  of  Pontresina.  The 
hollowing  out  of  the  rock  by  the  eddies  of  the  water 
is  here  quite  manifest.  A  few  minutes'  walk  up- 
wards brings  us  to  the  end  of  the  gorge ;  and  behind 
it  we  have  the  usaal  indications  of  an  ancient  lake, 
and  terraces  of  distinct  water  origin. 

From  this  position  the  genesis  of  the  gorge  is 
clearly  revealed.  After  the  retreat  of  the  ancient 
glacier,  a  transverse  ridge  of  comparatively  resisting 
material  crossed  the  valley  at  this  place.  Over  the 
lowest  part  of  this  ridge  the  river  flowed,  rushing 
steeply  down  to  join  at  the  bottom  of  the  slope  the 
stream  which  issued  from  the  Eosegg  glacier.  On 
this  incline  the  water  became  a  powerful  eroding 
agent,  and  finally  cut  its  channel  to  its  present  depth. 

Geological  writers  of  reputation  assume  at  this 
place  the  existence  of  a  fissure,  the  '  washing  out ' 
;  of  which  resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  gorge. 
[Now  no  examination  of  the  bed  of  the  river  ever 
proved  the  existence  of  this  fissure  ;  and  it  is  certain 
that  water  can  cut  a  channel  through  unfisbured  rock 
— that  cases  of  deep  cutting  can  be  pointed  out 
l^rhere  the  clean  bed  of  the  stream  is  exposed,  the  rock 
which  forms  the  floor  of  the  river  not  exhibiting  a 
trace  of  fissure.     An  example  of  this  kind  occurs  near 


226  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE    ALPS.  [1864 

the  Bemina  Gasthaus,  about  two  hours  from  Pontre- 
sina.  A  little  way  below  the  junction  of  the  two 
streams  from  the  Bemina  Pass  and  the  Heuthal  the 
river  flows  through  a  channel  cut  by  itself,  and  20 
or  30  feet  in  depth.  At  some  places  the  river-bed 
is  covered  with  rolled  stones ;  at  other  places  it  is 
bare,  but  shows  no  trace  of  fissure.  The  abstract 
power  of  water  (if  I  may  use  the  term)  to  cut 
through  rock  is  demonstrated  by  such  instances. 
But  if  water  be  competent  to  form  a  gorge  without 
the  aid  of  a  fissure,  why  assume  the  existence  of  such 
in  cases  like  that  at  Pontresina  ?  It  seems  far  more 
philosophical  to  accept  the  simple  and  impressive 
history  written  on  the  walls  of  those  gorges  by  the 
agent  which  produced  them. 

Nmnerous  cases  might  be  pointed  out,  varying 
in  magnitude,  but  all  identical  in  kind,  of  barriers 
which  crossed  valleys  and  formed  lakes  having  been 
cut  through  by  rivers,  narrow  gorges  being  the  con- 
sequence. One  of  the  most  famous  examples  of 
this  kind  is  the  Finsteraarschlucht  in  the  valley  of 
Hasli.  Here  the  ridge  called  the  Kirchet  seems 
split  across,  and  the  river  Aar  rushes  through  the 
fissure.  Behind  the  barrier  we  have  the  meadows 
and  pastures  of  Imhof  resting  on  the  sediment  of 
an  ancient  lake.  Were  this  an  isolated  case,  one 
might  reasonably  conclude  that  the  Finisteraar- 
Bchlucht  was  produced  by  an  earthquake,  as  some 


1864]  ALPINE   SCULPTUKE.  227 

suppose  it  to  have  been  ;  but  when  we  find  it  to  be 
a  single  sample  of  actions  which  are  frequent  in 
the  Alps — when  probably  a  hundred  cases  of  the 
same  kind,  though  different  in  magnitude,  can  be 
pointed  out — it  seems  quite  unphilosophical  to 
assume  that  in  each  particular  case  an  earthquake 
was  at  hand  to  form  a  channel  for  the  river.  As  in 
the  case  of  the  barrier  at  Pontresina,  the  Kirchet, 
after  the  retreat  of  the  Aar  glacier,  dammed  the 
waters  flowing  from  it,  thus  forming  a  lake,  on  the 
bed  of  which  now  stands  the  village  of  Imhof. 
Over  this  barrier  the  Aar  timibled  towards  Mey- 
ringen,  cutting,  as  the  centuries  passed,  its  bed  ever 
deeper,  until  finally  it  became  deep  enough  to  drain 
the  lake,  leaving  in  its  place  the  alluvial  plain, 
through  which  the  river  now  flows  in  a  definite 
channel.^ 

But  the  broad  view  taken  by  the  advocates  of  the 
fracture  theory  is,  that  the  valleys  are  the  tracks  of 
primeval  fissures  produced  by  the  upheaval  of  the 
land,  and  the  cracks  across  the  barriers  to  which 
I  have  referred  are  in  reality  portions  of  the 
great  cracks  which  formed  the  valleys.  Such  an 
argument,  however,  would  virtually  concede  the 
theory  of  erosion  as  applied  to  the  valleys  of  the 
Alps.  The  narrow  gorges,  often  not  more  than 
twenty  or  thirty  feet  across,  sometimes  even 
'  For  further  obserrations  see  p.  256. 


228  HOUES   OF    EXEKCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1864 

narrower,  frequently  occur  at  the  bottom  of  broad 
valleys.  Such  fissures  might  enter  into  the  list  of 
accidents  which  gave  direction  to  the  real  erosive 
agents  which  scooped  the  valley  out ;  but  the  for- 
mation of  the  valley,  as  it  now  exists,  could  no 
more  be  ascribed  to  it  than  the  motion  of  a  railway 
train  could  be  ascribed  to  the  finger  of  the  engineer 
which  turns  on  the  steam. 

These  deep  gorges  occur,  I  believe,  for  the  most 
part  in  limestone  strata ;  and  the  effects  which  the 
merest  driblet  of  water  can  produce  on  such  rocks 
are  quite  astonishing.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  meet 
chasms  of  considerable  depth  produced  by  small 
streams  the  beds  of  which  are  dry  for  a  large  portion 
of  the  year.  Right  and  left  of  the  larger  gorges 
such  secondary  chasms  are  usually  to  be  found. 
The  idea  of  time  must,  I  think,  be  more  and  more 
included  in  our  reasonings  on  these  phenomena. 
Happily,  the  marks  which  the  rivers  have,  in  most 
cases,  left  behind  them,  and  which  refer,  geologi- 
cally considered,  to  actions  of  yesterday,  give  us 
ground  and  corn-age  to  conceive  what  may  be  ef- 
fected in  geologic  periods.  Thus  the  modem  por- 
tion of  the  Via  Mala  throws  light  upon  the  whole. 
Near  Bergiin,  in  the  valley  of  the  Albula,  there  is 
also  a  little  Via  JNIala,  which  is  not  less  significant 
than  the  great  one.  The  river  flows  here  through 
a  profound  limestone  gorge  ;  but  to  the  very  edges 


1864]  ALPINE   SCULPTURE.  229 

of  the  gorge  we  have  the  evidences  of  erosion.  The 
most  striking  illustration  of  water-action  upon 
limestone  rock  which  I  have  ever  witnessed  is,  I 
think,  furnished  by  the  gorge  at  Pfaflfers.  Here  the 
traveller  passes  along  the  side  of  the  chasm  midway 
between  top  and  bottom.  Whichever  way  he  looks, 
backwards  or  forwards,  upwards  or  downwards,  to- 
wards the  sky  or  towards  the  river,  he  meets  every- 
where the  irresistible  and  impressive  evidence  that 
this  wonderful  fissure  has  been  sawn  through  the 
mountain  by  the  waters  of  the  Tamina. 

I  have  thus  far  confined  myself  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  gorges  formed  by  the  cutting  through 
of  the  rock-barriers  which  frequently  cross  the 
valleys  of  the  Alps ;  as  far  as  I  have  examined  them 
they  are  the  work  of  erosion.  But  the  largei 
question  still  remains.  To  what  action  are  we  to 
ascribe  the  formation  of  the  valleys  themselves  ? 
This  question  includes  that  of  the  formation  of  the 
mountain-ridges,  for  were  the  valleys  wholly  filled, 
the  ridges  would  disappear.  Possibly  no  answer 
can  be  given  to  this  question  which  is  not  beset 
with  more  or  less  of  difficulty.  Special  localities 
might  bo  found  which  would  seem  to  contradict 
every  solution  which  refers  the  conformation  of  the 
Alps  to  the  operation  of  a  single  cause. 

Still  the  Alps  present  features  of  a  character  suffi- 
ciently definite  to  bring  the  question  of  their  origin 

11 


230  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN    lUE    ALPS.  [186i 

within  the  sphere  of  close  reasoning.  That  they 
were  in  whole  or«in  part  once  beneath  the  sea  will 
not  be  disputed ;  for  they  are  in  great  part  com- 
posed of  sedimentary  rocks  whicli  required  a  sea  to 
form  them.  Their  present  elevation  above  the  sea 
is  due  to  one  of  those  local  changes  in  the  shape  of 
the  earth  which  have  been  of  frequent  occurrence 
throughout  geologic  time,  and  which  in  some  cases 
have  depressed  the  land,  and  in  others  caused  the 
sea-bottom  to  protrude  beyond  its  surface.  Con- 
sidering the  inelastic  character  of  its  materials,  the 
protuberance  of  the  Alps  could  hardly  have  been 
pushed  out  without  dislocation  and  fracture ;  and 
this  conclusion  gains  in  probability  when  we  con- 
sider the  foldings,  contortions,  and  even  reversals 
in  position  of  the  strata  in  many  parts  of  the  Alps 
Such  changes  in  the  position  of  beds  which  were 
once  horizontal  could  not  have  been  effected  witliout 
dislocation.  Fissures  would  be  produced  by  these 
cnanges ;  and  such  fissures,  the  advocates  of .  the 
fracture  theory  contend,  mark  the  positions  of  the 
valleys  of  the  Alps. 

Imagination  is  necessary  to  the  man  of  science, 
and  we  could  not  reason  on  our  present  subject 
without  the  power  of  presenting  mentally  a  picture 
of  the  earth's  crust  cracked  and  fissured  by  the 
forces  which  produced  its  upheaval.  Imagination, 
however,  must  be  strictly  checked  by  reason  and  by 


»864j  ALPINE   SCULPTURE.  231 

observation.  That  fractures  occurred  cannot,  I  think, 
be  doubted,  but  that  the  valleys  of  the  Alps  are  thus 
formed  is  a  conclusion  not  at  all  involved  in  the 
admission  of  dislocations.  I  never  met  with  a 
precise  statement  of  the  manner  in  which  the  ad- 
vocates of  the  fissure  theory  suppose  the  forces  to 
have  acted — whether  they  assume  a  general  eleva- 
tion of  the  region,  or  a  local  elevation  of  distinct 
ridges  ;  or  whether  they  assume  local  subsidences 
after  a  general  elevation,  or  whether  they  would 
superpose  upon  the  general  upheaval  minor  and 
local  upheavals. 

In  the  absence  of  any  distinct  statement,  I 
will  assume  the  elevation  to  be  general — that  a 
swelling  out  of  the  earth's  crust  occurred  here, 
sufficient  to  place  the  most  prominent  portions  of 
the  protuberance  three  miles  above  the  sea-level. 
To  fix  the  ideas,  let  us  consider  a  circular  portion  of 
the  crust,  say  one  hundred  miles  in  diameter,  and 
let  us  suppose,  in  the  first  instance,  the  circum- 
ference of  this  circle  to  remain  fixed,  and  that  the 
elevation  was  confined  to  the  space  within  it.  The 
upheaval  would  throw  the  crust  into  a  state  of 
strain  ;  and,  if  it  were  inflexible,  the  strain  must  be 
relieved  by  fracture.  Crevasses  would  thus  intersect 
the  crust.  Let  us  now  enquire  what  proportion  the 
area  of  these  open  fissures  is  likely  to  bear  to  the 
area    of    the   unfissured    crust.      An    approximate 


232  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1864 

answer  is  all  that  is  here  required ;  for  the  problem 
is  of  such  a  character  as  to  render  minute  precision 
unnecessary. 

No  one,  I  think,  would  affirm  that  the  area  of  the 
fissures  would  be  one-hundredth  the  area  of  the  land. 
For  let  us  consider  the  strain  upon  a  single  line 
drawn  over  the  summit  of  the  protuberance  from 
a  point  on  its  rim  to  a  point  opposite.  Eegarding 
the  protuberance  as  a  spherical  swelling,  the  length 
of  the  arc  corresponding  to  a  chord  of  100  miles 
and  a  versed  sine  of  3  miles  is  100*24  miles  ;  conse- 
quently the  surface  to  reach  its  new  position  must 
stretch  0*24  of  a  mile,  or  be  broken.  A  fissure  or  a 
number  of  cracks  with  tliis  total  width  would  relieve 
the  strain  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  sum  of  tlie  widths  of 
all  the  cracks  over  the  length  of  100  miles  would  be 
420  yards.  If,  instead  of  comparing  the  width  of  the 
fissures  with  the  length  of  the  lines  of  tension,  we 
compared  their  areas  with  the  area  of  the  unfissurcd 
land,  we  should  of  course  find  the  proportion  much 
less.  These  considerations  will  help  the  imagina 
tion  to  realise  what  a  small  ratio  the  area  of  the 
open  fissures  must  bear  to  the  unfissurcd  crust. 
They  enable  us  to  say,  for  example,  that  to  assume 
the  area  of  the  fissures  to  be  one-tenth  of  the  area 
of  the  land  would  be  quite  absurd,  while  that  the 
area  of  the  fissures  could  be  one-half  or  more  than 
one-lialf  that  of  tlie  land  would  be  in  a  proportionate 


■.864]  ALPINE   SCULPTTJIIE.  233 

degree  unthinkable.  If  we  suppose  the  elevation 
to  be  due  to  the  shrinking  or  subsidence  of  the 
land  all  roimd  our  assumed  circle,  we  arrive  equally 
at  the  conclusion  that  the  area  of  the  open  fissures 
would  be  altogether  insig-nificant  as  compared  with 
that  of  the  imfissured  crust. 

To  those  who  have  seen  them  from  a  commanding 
elevation,  it  is  needless  to  say  that  the  Alps  them- 
selves bear  no  sort  of  resemblance  to  the  picture 
which  this  theory  presents  to  us.  Instead  of  deep 
cracks  with  approximately  vertical  walls,  we  have 
ridges  before  us  running  into  peaks,  and  gradually 
sloping  to  form  valleys.  Instead  of  a  fissured  crust, 
we  have  a  state  of  things  closely  resembling  the 
sm-face  of  the  ocean  when  agitated  by  a  storm. 
The  valleys,  instead  of  being  much  narrower  than 
the  ridges,  occupy  the  greater  space.  A  plaster 
cast  of  the  Alps  turned  upside  down,  so  as  to  invert 
the  elevations  and  depressions,  would  exhibit  blunter 
and  broader  mountains,  with  narrower  valleys  be- 
tween them,  than  the  present  ones.  The  valleys 
that  exist  cannot,  I  think,  with  any  correctness  of 
language  be  called  fissures.  It  may  be  urged  that 
they  originated  in  fissures :  but  even  this  is  un- 
proved, and,  were  it  proved,  would  still  make  the 
fissures  play  the  subordinate  part  of  giving  direction 
to  the  agents  which  are  to  be  regarded  as  the  real 
sculptors  of  the  Alps. 


234  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN   THE    ALPS.  [1864 

The  fracture  theory,  then,  if  it  regards  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  Alps  as  due  to  the  operation  of  a  force 
acting  throughout  the  entire  region,  is,  in  my 
opinion,  utterly  incompetent  to  account  for  the 
conformation  of  the  country.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
we  are  compelled  to  resort  to  local  disturbances, 
the  manipulation  of  the  earth's  crust  necessary  to 
obtain  the  valleys  and  the  moimtains  will,  I  ima- 
gine, bring  the  difficulties  of  the  theory  into  very 
strong  relief.  Indeed  an  examination  of  the  region 
from  many  of  the  more  accessible  eminences 
— from  the  Gralenstock,  the  Grauhaupt,  the  Pitz 
Languard,  the  Monte  Confinale — or,  better  still, 
from  Mont  Blanc,  Monte  Eosa,  the  Jungfrau,  the 
Finsteraarhom,  the  Weisshom,  or  the  Matterhom, 
where  local  peculiarities  are  toned  down,  and  the 
operations  of  the  powers  which  really  made  this 
region  what  it  is  are  alone  brought  into  prominence 
— must,  I  imagine,  convince  every  physically-minded 
man  of  the  inability  of  any  fracture  theory  to 
account  for  the  present  conformation  of  the  Alps, 

A  correct  model  of  the  mountains,  witb  an  un- 
exaggerated  vertical  scale,  produces  the  same  effect 
upon  the  mind  as  the  prospect  from  one  of  the 
highest  peaks.  We  are  apt  to  bo  influenced  by 
local  phenomena  which,  though  insignificant  in 
view  of  the  general  question  of  Alpine  conformation, 
are,  with  reference  to  our  customary  standards,  vast 


1864]  ALPINE  sculptuhe.  235 

and  impressive.  In  a  true  model  those  local  peculi- 
arities disappear ;  for  on  the  scale  of  a  model  they 
are  too  small  to  be  visible ;  while  the  essential  facts 
and  forms  are  presented  to  the  undistracted  at- 
tention. 

A  minute  analysis  of  the  phenomena  strengthens 
the  conviction  which  the  general  aspect  of  the  Alps 
fixes  in  the  mind.  We  find,  for  example,  numerous 
valleys  which  the  most  ardent  plutonist  would  not 
think  of  ascribing  to  aty  other  agency  than  erosion. 
That  such  is  their  genesis  and  history  is  as  certain 
as  that  erosion  produced  the  Chines  in  the  Isle  of 
Wight.  From  these  indubitable  cases  of  erosion — 
commencing,  if  necessary,  with  the  small  ravines 
which  run  down  the  flanks  of  the  ridges,  with  their 
little  working  navigators  at  their  bottoms — we  can 
proceed,  by  almost  insensible  gradations,  to  the 
largest  valleys  of  the  Alps ;  and  it  would  perplex 
the  plutonist  to  fix  upon  the  point  at  which 
fracture  begins  to  play  a  material  part. 

In  ascending  one  of  the  larger  valleys,  we  enter  it 
where  it  is  wide  and  where  the  eminences  arc  gentle 
on  either  side.  The  flanking  mountains  become 
higher  and  more  abrupt  as  we  ascend,  and  at  length 
we  reach  a  place  where  the  depth  of  the  valley  is  a 
maximum.  Continuing  our  walk  upwards,  we  find 
ourselves  flanked  by  gentler  slopes,  and  finally 
emerge  from  the  valley  and  reach  the  summit  of  an 


236  nouES  of  exercise  in  the  alps.  [1861 

open  col,  or  depression  in  the  chain  of  mountains. 
This  is  the  common  character  of  the  large  valleys. 
Crossing  the  col,  we  descend  along  the  opposite 
slope  of  the  chain,  and  through  the  same  series  of 
appearances  in  the  reverse  order.  If  the  valleys  on 
both  sides  of  the  col  were  produced  by  fissures,  what 
prevents  the  fissure  from  prolonging  itself  across  the 
col  ?  The  case  here  cited  is  representative  ;  and  I 
am  not  acquainted  with  a  single  instance  in  the 
Alps  where  the  chain  has  been  cracked  in  the 
manner  indicated.  The  cols  are  simply  depressions  , 
and  in  the  case  of  many  of  them  the  unfissured  rock 
can  be  traced  from  side  to  side. 

The  typical  instance  just  sketched  follows  as  a 
natural  consequence  from  the  theory  of  erosion. 
Before  either  ice  or  water  can  exert  great  power  as 
an  erosive  agent,  it  must  collect  in  sufficient  mass. 
On  the  higher  slopes  and  plateaus — in  the  region  of 
cols — the  power  is  not  fully  developed ;  but  lower 
down  tributaries  unite,  erosion  is  carried  on  with 
increased  vigour,  and  the  excavation  gradually 
reaches  a  maximum.  Lower  still  the  elevations 
diminish  and  the  slopes  become  more  gentle ;  the 
cutting  power  gradually  relaxes,  until  finally  the 
eroding  agent  quits  the  mountains  altogether,  and 
the  grand  effects  which  it  produced  in  the  earlier 
portions  of  its  course  entirely  disappear. 

I  have  hitherto  confined  myself  to  the  consideiation 


/864J  ALPINE    SCULPTUllE.  237 

of  the  broad  question  of  the  erosion  theory  as 
compared  with  the  fracture  theory ;  and  all  that  I 
have  been  able  to  observe  and  think  with  reference 
to  the  subject  leads  me  to  adopt  the  former.  Under 
the  term  erosion  I  include  the  action  of  water,  of 
ice,  and  of  the  atmosphere,  including  frost  and  rain. 
Water  and  ice,  however,  are  the  principal  agents, 
and  which  of  these  two  has  produced  the  greatest 
effect  it  is  perhaps  impossible  to  say.  Two  years 
ago  I  wrote  a  brief  note  '  On  the  Conformation  of 
the  Alps,' '  in  which  I  ascribed  the  paramount 
influence  to  glaciers.  The  facts  on  which  that 
opinion  was  founded  are,  I  think,  unassailable  ;  but 
whether  the  conclusion  then  announced  fairly  follows 
from  the  facts  is,  I  confess,  an  open  question. 

The  arguments  which  have  been  thus  far  urged 
against  the  conclusion  are  not  convincing.  Indeed, 
the  idea  of  glacier  erosion  appears  so  daring  to  some 
minds  that  its  boldness  alone  is  deemed  its  sufficient 
refutation.  It  is,  however,  to  be  remembered  that 
a  precisely  similar  position  was  taken  up  by  many 
respectable  people  when  the  question  of  ancient 
glacier  extension  was  first  mooted.  The  idea  was 
considered  too  hardy  to  be  entertained;  and  the  evi- 
dences of  glacial  action  were  sought  to  be  explained 
by  reference  to  almost  any  process  rather  than  the 
true  one.     Let  those  who  so  wisely  took  the  side  of 

'  Phil.  Mag.  Tol.  xxiv.  p.  169, 


238  HOURS    OF    EXERCISE    IN   THE    ALPS.  [1864 

'  boldness  '  in  that  discussion  beware  lest  they  place 
themselves,  with  reference  to  the  question  of  glacier 
erosion,  in  the  position  formerly  occupied  by  theii 
opponents. 

Looking  at  the  little  glaciers  of  the  present  day — 
mere  pigmies  as  compared  to  the  giants  of  the 
glacial  epoch — we  find  that  from  every  one  of  them 
issues  a  river  more  or  less  voluminous,  charged  with 
the  matter  which  the  ice  has  rubbed  from  the  rocks. 
Where  the  rocks  are  of  a  soft  character,  the  amount 
of  this  finely  pulverised  matter  suspended  in  the 
water  is  very  great.  Tlie  water,  for  example,  of  the 
river  which  flows  from  Santa  Catarina  to  Bormio 
is  thick  witli  it.  The  Rhino  is  charged  with  this 
matter,  and  by  it  has  so  silted  up  the  Lake  of 
Constance  as  to  abolish  it  for  a  large  fraction  of  its 
length.  The  Rhone  is  charged  with  it,  and  tens  of 
thousands  of  acres  of  cultivable  land  are  formed  by 
it  above  the  Lake  of  Geneva. 

In  the  case  of  every  glacier  we  have  two  agents 
at  work — the  ice  exerting  a  crushing  force  on 
every  point  of  its  bed  which  bears  its  weight,  and 
either  rasping  this  point  into  powder  or  tearing  it 
bodily  from  the  rock  to  which  it  belongs ;  while 
the  water  which  everywhere  circulates  upon  the  bed 
of  the  glacier  continually  washes  the  detritus  away 
and  leaves  the  rock  clean  for  further  abrasion. 
Confining  the  action  of  glaciers  to  the  simple  rubbing 


18G1]  ALPINE   SCULPTURE.  239 

away  of  the  rocks,  and  allowing  them  sufl&cient  time 
to  act,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  opinion,  but  a  physical 
certainty,  that  they  will  scoop  out  valleys.  But  the 
glacier  does  more  than  abrade.  Rocks  are  not 
homogeneous  ;  they  are  intersected  by  joints  and 
places  of  weakness,  which  divide  them  into  virtually 
detached  masses.  A  glacier  is  undoubtedly  compe- 
tent to  root  such  masses  bodily  away.  Indeed  the 
mere  a  jpriori  consideration  of  the  subject  proves  the 
competence  of  a  glacier  to  deepen  its  bed.  Taking 
the  case  of  a  glacier  1,000  feet  deep  (and  some  of 
the  older  ones  were  probably  three  times  this  depth), 
and  allowing  40  feet  of  ice  to  an  atmosphere,  we  find 
that  on  every  square  inch  of  its  bed  such  a  glacier 
presses  with  a  weight  of  375  lbs.,  and  on  every  square 
yard  of  its  bed  with  a  weight  of  48G,000  lbs.  With  a 
vertical  pressure  of  this  amount  the  glacier  is  urged 
down  its  valley  by  the  pressure  from  behind.  We 
can  hardly,  I  think,  deny  to  such  a  tool  a  power  of 
excavation. 

Before  concluding  these  remarks,  I  refreshed  my 
memory  by  a  second  reading  of  the  paper  of  Mr.  John 
Ball,  published  in  the  '  Philosophical  Magazine '  for 
February  1863.  Mr.  Ball's  great  experience  of  the 
Alps  naturally  renders  everything  he  writes  regard- 
ing them  interesting.  But  though  I  have  attended 
to  the  suggestions  contained  in  his  paper,  I  am 
unable    to    see    the    cogency    of    his     arguments, 


240  UODUS    OF   EJEHCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [186< 

An  inspection  of  the  map  of  Switzerland,  with 
reference  to  the  direction  of  its  valleys,  suggests  to 
my  mind  no  objection  whatever  to  the  theory  of 
erosion. 

The  reperusal  of  his  paper  assiired  me  that  Mr. 
Ball  had  paid  attention  to  the  formation  of  ancient 
lakes.  He  deems  their  beds  a  prominent  feature  of 
Alpine  valleys ;  and  he  considers  the  barriers  which 
dammed  them  up,  and  whicli  were  not  removed 
by  the  ancient  glaciers,  as  '  a  formidable  difficulty 
in  the  way  of  Prof.  Tyndall's  bold  liypothesis.' 
*  Looking  at  the  operation  as  a  whole,'  writes  Mr. 
Ball,  '  it  is  to  me  quite  inconceivable  that  a  glacier 
should  be  competent  to  scoop  out  valleys  a  mile  or 
more  in  depth,  and  yet  be  unable  to  remove  the 
main  inequalities  from  its  own  channel.' 

To  this  I  reply  that  a  glacier  is  competent  to 
remove  such  barriers,  and  they  probably  have  been 
groimd  do^vn  in  some  cases  thousands  of  feet. 
But  being  of  more  resisting  material  than  the 
adjacent  rock,  they  are  not  ground  down  to  the 
level  of  that  rock.  Were  its  bed  uniform  in  the 
first  instance,  the  glacier  would,  in  my  opinion, 
produce  the  inequalities  which  Mr.  Ball  thinks  it 
ought  to  remove.  I  Iiave  recently  had  the  pleasure 
of  examining  some  of  tlese  barriers  in  the  com- 
pany of  Mr.  Ball;  and  to  me  they  represented 
nothing  more  than    the   natural   accidents   of  the 


i864]  ALPINE   SCULPTURE.  241 

locality.  It  would,  I  think,  be  far  more  wonderful 
to  find  the  rocks  of  the  Alps  perfectly  homogeneous, 
than  to  find  them  exhibiting  such  variations  of  resis- 
tance to  grinding  down  as  are  actually  observed. 

The  question  of  lake-basins  is  now  in  com- 
petent hands,  and  on  its  merits  I  will  offer  no 
opinion.  But  I  cannot  help  remarking  that  the 
dams  referred  to  by  Mr.  Ball  furnish  a  conclusive 
reply  to  some  of  the  arguments  which  have  been 
urged  against  Prof.  Kamsay's  theory.  These  barriers 
have  been  crossed  by  the  ice,  and  many  of  them 
present  steeper  gradients  than  Prof.  Kamsay  has 
to  cope  with  in  order  to  get  his  ice  out  of  his  lake- 
basins.  An  inspection  of  the  barriers  shows  that 
they  were  incompetent  to  embay  the  ice :  they  are 
Bcarred  and  fluted  from  bottom  to  top.  When  it  is 
urged  against  Prof.  Eamsay  that  a  glacier  cannot 
drop  into  a  hole  2,000  feet  deep  and  get  out  again, 
the  distance  ought  to  be  stated  over  which  these 
2,000  feet  have  to  be  distributed.  A  depression 
2,000  feet  deep,  if  only  of  sufficient  length,  would 
constitute  no  material  obstacle  to  the  motion  of  a 
great  glacier. 

The  retardation  of  a  glacier  by  its  bed  has 
also  been  referred  to  as  proving  its  impotence  as 
an  erosive  agent ;  but  this  very  retardation  is  in 
some  measure  an  expression  of  the  magnitude  of  the 
erosive  energy.     Either  the  bed  must  give  way,  or 


242  HOURS   OF    EXERCISE    IN   THE    ALPS.  [186* 

the  ice  must  slide  over  itself ;  and  to  make  ice  slide 
over  itself  requires  great  power.  We  get  some  idea 
of  the  crushing  pressure  which  the  moving  glacier 
exercises  against  its  bed  from  the  fact  that  the  resist- 
ance, and  the  effort  to  overcome  it,  are  such  as  to 
make  the  upper  layers  of  a  glacier  move  bodily  over 
the  lower  ones — a  portion  only  of  the  total  motion 
being  due  to  the  progress  of  the  entire  mass  of  the 
glacier  down  its  valley. 

The  sudden  bend  in  the  valley  of  the  Rhone  at 
Martigny  has  also  been  regarded  as  conclusive 
evidence  against  the  theory  of  erosion.  '  Why,'  it 
has  been  asked,  '  did  not  the  glacier  of  the  Rhone 
go  straight  forward  instead  of  making  this  awkward 
bend  ? '  But  if  the  valley  be'  a  crack,  why  did  the 
crack  make  this  bend  ?  The  crack,  I  submit,  had  at 
least  as  much  reason  to  prolong  itself  in  a  straight 
line  as  the  glacier  had.  A  statement  of  Sir  John 
Herschel  with  reference  to  another  matter  is  perfectly 
applicable  here :  '  A  crack  once  produced  has  a 
tendency  to  run — for  this  plain  reason,  that  at  its 
momentary  limit,  at  the  point  at  which  it  has  just 
arrived,  the  divellent  force  on  the  molecules  there 
situated  is  counteracted  only  by  half  of  the  cohesive 
force  which  acted  when  there  was  no  crack,  viz.  the 
cohesion  of  the  uncracked  portion  alone '  ('  Proc.  Roy. 
Soc'  vol.  xii.  p.  678).  To  account  then  for  the  bend, 
the  adherent  of  the  fracture  tlieory  must  assume  the 


864]  ALPINE   SCULPTURE.  243 

existence  of  some  accident  which  turned  the  crack 
at  right  angles  to  itself;  and  he  surely  will  permit 
the  adherent  of  thje  erosion  theory  to  make  a  similar 
assumption. 

The  influence  of  small  accidents  on  the  direction 
of  rivers  is  beautifully  illustrated  in  glacier  streams, 
which  are  made  to  cut  either  straight  or  sinuous 
channels  by  causes  apparently  of  the  most  trivial 
character.  In  his  interesting  paper  '  On  the  Lakes 
of  Switzerland,'  M.  Studer  also  refers  to  the  bend  of 
the  Khine  at  Sargans  in  proof  that  the  river  must 
there  follow  a  pre-existing  fissure.  I  made  a  special 
expedition  to  the  place  in  1864 ;  and  though  I 
felt  that  M.  Studer  had  good  grounds  for  the 
selection  of  this  spot,  I  was  unable  to  arrive  at  his 
conclusion  as  to  the  necessity  of  a  fissure. 

Again,  in  the  interesting  volume  recently  published 
by  the  Swiss  Alpine  Club,  M.  Desor  informs  us  that 
the  Swiss  naturalists  who  met  last  year  at  Samaden 
visited  the  end  of  the  Morteratsch  glacier,  and  there 
convinced  themselves  that  a  glacier  had  no  tendency 
whatever  to  imbed  itself  in  the  soil.  I  scarcely 
think  that  the  question  of  glacier  erosion,  as  applied 
either  to  lakes  or  valleys,  is  to  be  disposed  of  so 
easily.  Lot  mc  record  here  my  experience  of  the 
Morteratsch  glacier.  I  took  with  me  in  1864 
a  theodolite  to  Pontresina,  and  while  thfere  had 
to   congratvdate  myself  on    the    invaluable  aid    of 


244 


HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS. 


[1864 


my  friend  Mr.  Hirst,  who  in  1857  did  such  good 
service  upon  the  Mer  de  Glace  and  its  tributaries. 
We  set  out  three  lines  across  the  Morteratsch  glacier, 
one  of  which  crossed  the  ice-stream  near  the  well- 
known  hut  of  the  painter  Georgei,  while  the  two 
others  were  staked  out,  the  one  above  the  hut  and 
the  other  below  it.  Calling  the  highest  line  A,  the 
line  which  crossed  the  glacier  at  the  hut  B,  and  the 
lowest  line  C,  the  following  are  the  mean  hourly 
motions  of  the  three  lines,  deduced  from  observa- 
tions which  extended  over  several  days.  On  each 
line  eleven  stakes  were  fixed,  which  are  designated 
by  the  figures  1,  2,  3,  &c.  in  the  Tables. 

Morteratsch  Glacier,  Line  A, 

No.  of  Stake.  Hourly  Motion. 

1 

2 

3. 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 
10 
11 

As  in  all  other  measurements  of  this  kind,  the  re- 
tarding influence  of  the  sides  of  the  glacier  is  mani- 
fest :  the  centre  moves  with  the  greatest  velocity. 


0-35 

inch. 

0-49 

0-53 

0-54 

0-56 

0-54 

0-52 

0-49 

0-40 

0-29 

0-20 

18641 


ALPINE  SCULPTURE. 


245 


Morteratsch  Glacier,  Line  B. 

.  of  Stake.                                          Hourly  Motion 

1 

0-05  inch. 

2 

.         .     0-U     „ 

3 

.     0-24     „ 

4 

.     0-32     „ 

5 

.     0-41     „ 

6 

.     0-44     „ 

7 

.     0-44     „ 

8 

.     0-45     „ 

9 

.     0-43     „ 

10 

•     0-44     „ 

11 

.     0-44     „ 

The  first  stake  of  this  line  was  quite  close  to  the 
edge  of  the  glacier,  and  the  ice  was  thin  at  the  place, 
hence  its  slow  motion.  Crevasses  prevented  us  from 
carrying  the  line  sufficiently  far  across  to  render  tlie 
retardation  of  the  further  side  of  the  glacier  fully 
evident. 

Morteratsch  Glacier,  Line  C. 


No  of  Stake. 

IIoTirly 

1 0-05 

2 

.    0-09 

3 

.     0-18 

4 

.     020 

5 

.     0-25 

6 

.     0-27 

7 

.    0-27 

8 

.    0-30 

9 

.     0-21 

10 

.     0  20 

11 

.     0-16 

246  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN   THE    ALPS.  [1864 

Comparing  the  three  lines  together,  it  will  be 
observed  that  the  velocity  diminishes  as  we  descend 
the  glacier.  In  100  hours  the  maximum  motion  of 
the  three  lines  respectively  is  as  follows  : 

Maximum  Motion  in  100  hours. 

Line  A         ....     56  inches 
„     B         .         .         .         .     45       „ 
„     C        .         .         .         .     30      „ 

This  deportment  explains  an  appearance  which 
must  strike  every  observer  who  looks  upon  the 
Morteratsch  from  the  Piz  Languard,  or  from  the 
new  Bernina  Eoad.  A  medial  moraine  runs  along 
the  glacier,  commencing  as  a  narrow  streak,  but  to- 
wards the  end  the  moraine  extending  in  width,  imtil 
finally  it  quite  covers  the  terminal  portion  of  the 
glacier.  The  cause  of  this  is  revealed  by  the  fore- 
going measurements,  which  prove  that  a  stone  on  the 
moraine  where  it  is  crossed  by  the  line  A  approaches 
a  second  stone  on  the  moraine  where  it  is  crossed 
by  the  line  C  with  a  velocity  of  twenty-six  inches 
per  one  hundred  hours.  The  moraine  is  in  a  state  of 
longitudinal  compression.  Its  materials  are  more 
and  more  squeezed  together,  and  they  must  conse- 
quently move  laterally  and  render  the  moraine  at 
the  terminal  portion  of  the  glacier  wider  than  above. 

The  motion  of  the  Morteratsch  glacier,  then, 
diminishes  as  we  descend.     The  maximum  motion 


1864]  ALPINE    SCULPTURE.  247 

of  the  third  line  is  thirty  inches  in  one  hundred 
hours,  or  seven  inches  a  day — a  very  slow  motion ; 
and  had  we  run  a  line  nearer  to  the  end  of  the 
glacier,  the  motion  would  have  been  slower  still. 
At  the  end  itself  it  is  nearly  insensible.  Now  I 
Bubnait  that  this  is  not  the  place  to  seek  for  the 
scooping  power  of  a  glacier.  The  opinion  appears 
to  be  prevalent  that  it  is  the  snout  of  a  glacier  that 
must  act  the  part  of  ploughshare  ;  and  it  is  certainly 
an  erroneous  opinion.  The  scooping  power  will 
exert  itself  most  where  the  weight,  and  consequently 
(other  things  being  equal)  the  motion,  is  greatest.  A 
glacier's  snout  often  rests  upon  matter  which  has 
been  scooped  from  the  glacier's  bed  higher  up.  I 
therefore  do  not  think  that  the  inspection  of  what 
the  end  of  a  glacier  does  or  does  not  accomplish  can 
decide  this  question. 

The  snout  of  a  glacier  is  potent  to  remove  any- 
thing against  which  it  can  fairly  abut ;  and  this 
power,  notwithstanding  the  slowness  of  the  motion, 
manifests  itself  at  the  end  of  the  Morteratsch  glacier. 
A  hillock,  bearing  pine-trees,  was  in  front  of  the 
glacier  when  Mr.  Hirst  and  myself  inspected  its  end ; 
and  this  hillock  is  being  bodily  removed  by  the 
thrust  of  the  ice.  Several  of  the  trees  are  over- 
turned ;  and  in  a  few  years,  if  the  glacier  continues 
its  reputed  advance,  the  mound  will  certainly  be 
ploughed  away. 


248 


HOURS   OF    EXERCISE    IN   THE    ALPS. 


[1864 


I  will  here  record  a  few  other  measurements  exe- 
cuted on  the  Eosegg  glacier :  the  line  was  staked 
cut  across  the  trunk  formed  by  the  junction  of  the 
Rosegg  proper  with  the  Tschierva  glacier,  a  short 
distance  below  the  rocky  promontory  called  Agaliogs. 


Rosegg  Glacier. 

No.  of  Stake,                                           Hourly  Motion 

1 

.     0-01  inch. 

2 

.    0-05    „ 

3 

.    0-07     „ 

4 

.     0-10     „ 

5 

.        .     Oil     „ 

6 

.     013     „ 

7 

■     014     „ 

8 

.     0:18     „ 

9 

.     0-24     „ 

10 

.     0-23     „ 

11 

.     0-24    „ 

This  is  an  extremely  slowly  moving  glacier ;  the 
maximum  hardly  amounts  to  seven  inches  a  day. 
Crevasses  prevented  us  from  continuing  the  line 
quite  across  the  glacier. 

To  return  to  the  question  of  Alpine  conformation  : 
it  stands,  I  think,  thus  :  We  have,  in  the  first 
place,  great  valleys,  such  as  those  of  the  Rhine  and 
the  Rhone,  which  we  might  conveniently  call  valleys 
of  the  first  order.  The  mountains  which  flank 
these  main  valleys  are  also  cut  by  lateral  valleys 
running   into   the  main   one,   and    which   may  be 


1864]  ALPINE   SCULPTURE.  249 

called  valleys  of  the  second  order.  When  these 
latter  are  examined,  smaller  valleys  are  found 
running  into  them,  which  may  be  called  valleys 
of  the  third  order.  Smaller  ravines  and  depressions, 
again,  join  the  latter,  which  may  be  called  valleys 
of  the  fourth  order,  and  so  on  until  we  reach  streaks 
and  cuttings  so  minute  as  not  to  merit  the  name 
of  valleys  at  all.  At  the  bottom  of  every  valley 
we  have  a  stream,  diminishing  in  magnitude  as  the 
order  of  the  valley  ascends,  carving  the  earth  and 
carrying  its  materials  to  lower  levels.  "We  find 
that  the  larger  valleys  have  been  filled  for  untold 
ages  by  glaciers  of  enormous  dimensions,  always 
moving,  grinding  down  and  tearing  away  the  rocks 
over  which  they  passed.  We  have,  moreover,  on 
the  plains  at  the  feet  of  the  mountains,  and  in  enor- 
mous quantities,  tlie  very  matter  derived  from  the 
sculpture  of  the  mountains  themselves. 

The  plains  of  Italy  and  Switzerland  are  cumbered 
by  the  debris  of  the  Alps.  The  lower,  wider,  and 
more  level  valleys  are  also  filled  to  unknown  depths 
with  the  materials  derived  from  the  higher  ones. 
In  the  vast  quantities  of  moraine-matter  which 
cumber  many  even  of  the  higher  valleys  we  have 
also  suggestions  as  to  the  magnitude  of  the  erosion 
which  has  taken  place.  This  moraine-matter,  more- 
over, can  only  in  small  part  have  been  derived  from 
the  falling  of  rocks  upon  the  ancient  glacier ;  it  is 


250  irOUES    OF   exercise    in    the    alps.  [1864 

in  great  part  derived  from  the  grinding  and  the 
ploughing-out  of  the  glacier  itself.  This  accounts 
for  the  magnitude  of  many  of  the  ancient  moraines, 
which  date  from  a  period  when  almost  all  the  moun- 
tains were  covered  with  ice  and  snow,  and  when, 
consequently,  the  quantity  of  moraine-matter  de- 
rived from  the  naked  crests  cannot  have  been 
considerable. 

The  erosion  theory  ascribes  the  formation  of 
Alpine  valleys  to  the  agencies  here  briefly  referred 
to.  It  invokes  nothing  but  true  causes.  Its  ar- 
tificers are  still  there,  though,  it  may  be,  in 
diminished  strength ;  and  if  they  are  granted 
sufficient  time,  it  is  demonstrable  that  they  are 
competent  to  produce  the  effects  ascribed  to  them. 
And  what  does  the  fracture  theory  offer  in  com- 
parison? From  no  possible  application  of  this 
theory,  pure  and  simple,  can  we  obtain  the  slopes 
and  forms  of  the  mountains.  Erosion  must  in  the 
long  run  be  invoked,  and  its  power  therefore  con- 
ceded. Tlie  fracture  theory  infers  from  the  disturb- 
ances of  the  Alps  the  existence  of  fissures ;  and  this 
is  a  probable  inference.  But  that  tliey  were  of  a 
magnitude  sufficient  to  determine  the  conformation 
of  the  Alps,  and  that  they  followed,  as  the  Alpine 
valleys  do,  the  lines  of  natural  drainage  of  the 
country,  are  assumptions  which  do  not  appear  to  me 
to  be  justified  cither  by  reason  or  bv  observation. 


1864]  ALPINE   SCDLPTURB.  251 

There  is  a  grandeur  in  the  secular  integration  of 
small    effects   implied    by    the    theory   of    erosion 
almost   superior  to  that  involved   in   the   idea   of 
a  cataclysm.     Think  of  the  ages  which  must  have 
been  consumed  in   the    execution   of  this  colossal 
sculpture.     The  question  may,  of  course,  be  pushed 
to  further  limits.      Think  of  the   ages  which  the 
molten  earth  required   for   its  consolidation.     But 
these  vaster  epochs  lack  sublimity  through  our  in- 
ability to  grasp  them.     They  bewilder  us,  but  they 
fail  to  make  a  solemn  impression.     The  genesis  of 
the  mountains  comes  more  within  the  scope  of  the 
intellect,  and  the  majesty  of  the  operation  is  en- 
hanced by  our  partial  ability  to  conceive  it.     In  the 
falling  of  a  rock  from  a  mountain-head,  in  the  shoot 
of  an   avalanche,  in  the  plunge  of  a  cataract,  we 
often  see  more  impressive  illustrations  of  the  power 
of  gravity  than  in  the  motions  of  the  stars.     When 
the  intellect  has  to  intervene,  and   calculation   is 
necessary  to  the  building  up  of  the  conception,  the 
expansion  of  the  feelings  ceases  to  bo  proportional 
to  the  magnitude  of  the  phenomena. 


252  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1865 


XXI. 

SEARCH  ON  THE  MATTERHORN :  A  PROJECT. 

In  July  1865  my  excellent  friend  Hirst  and  myself 
visited  Glarus,  intending,  if  circumstances  favoured 
us,  to  climb  the  Todi.  "We  had,  however,  some 
difficulty  with  the  guides,  and  therefore  gave  the 
expedition  up.  Crossing  the  Klausen  pass  to  Altdorf, 
we  ascended  the  Grotthardt  Strasse  to  Wasen,  and 
went  thence  over  the  Susten  pass  to  Gadmen,  which 
we  reached  late  at  night.  We  halted  for  a  moment 
at  Stein,  but  the  blossom  of  1863^  was  no  longer 
there,  and  we  did  not  tarry.  On  quitting  Gadmen 
next  morning  I  was  accosted  by  a  guide,  who  asked 
me  whether  I  knew  Professor  Tyndall.  '  He  is 
killed,  sir,'  said  the  man — '  killed  upon  the  Matter- 
horn.'  I  then  listened  to  a  somewhat  detailed 
account  of  my  own  destruction,  and  soon  gathered 
that,  though  the  details  were  erroneous,  something 
serious  if  not  shocking  had  occurred.  At  Imhof  the 
rumour  became  more  consistent,  and  immediately 
afterwards  the  Matterhorn  catastrophe  was  in  every 
•  Pago  1G7. 


1865]  CLIMBING   TROJECT.  253 

mouth,  and  in  all  the  newspapers.  My  friend  and 
myself  wandered  on  to  Miirren,  whence,  after  an 
ineflfectual  attempt  to  cross  the  Petersgrat,  we  went 
by  Kandersteg  and  the  Gemmi  to  Zermatt. 

Of  the  four  sufferers  on  the  Matterhorn  one 
remained  behind.  But  expressed  in  terms  either  of 
mental  torture  or  physical  pain,  the  suffering  in  my 
opinion  was  nil.  Excitement  during  the  first 
moments  left  no  room  for  terror,  and  immediate 
unconsciousness  prevented  pain.  No  death  has 
probably  less  of  agony  in  it  than  that  caused  by  the 
shock  of  gravity  on  a  mountain-side.  Expected,  it 
would  be  terrible ;  but  unexpected,  not.  I  had 
heard,  however,  of  other  griefs  and  sufferings  conse- 
quent on  the  accident,  and  this  prompted  a  desire 
on  my  part  to  find  the  remaining  one  and  bring 
him  down. 

I  had  seen  the  road-makers  at  work  between 
St.  Nicholas  and  Zermatt,  and  was  struck  by  the 
rapidity  with  which  they  pierced  the  rocks  for 
blasting.  One  of  these  fellows  could  drive  a  hole  a 
foot  deep  into  hard  granite  in  less  than  an  hour.  I 
was  therefore  determined  to  secure  in  aid  of  my 
project  the  services  of  a  road-maker.  None  of  the 
Zermatt  guides  would  second  me,  but  I  found  one 
of  the  Lochmatters  of  St.  Nicholas  willing  to  do  so. 
Him  I  sent  to  Geneva  to  buy  3,000  feet  of  rope, 
which  duly  came  on  heavily  laden  mules  to  Zermatt, 

12 


254  HOTJRS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1865 

Hammers  and  steel  punches  were  prepared ;  a  tent 
was  put  in  order,  and  the  whole  was  carried  up  to 
the  chapel  by  the  Schwarz  See.  But  the  weather 
would  by  no  means  smile  upon  the  undertaking.  I 
waited  in  Zermatt  for  twenty  days,  making  excur- 
sions with  pleasant  friends,  but  they  merely  spanned 
the  brief  intervals  which  separated  one  rain-gush 
or  thunderstorm  from  another.  Bound  by  an  en- 
gagement to  my  friend  Professor  De  la  Rive,  of 
Geneva,  where  the  Swiss  naturalists  had  their  annual 
assembly  in  1865,  I  was  forced  to  leave  Zermatt. 
My  notion  was  to  climb  to  the  point  where  the  men 
slipped,  and  to  fix  there  suitable  irons  in  the  rocks. 
By  means  of  ropes  attached  to  these  I  proposed  to 
scour  the  mountain  along  the  line  of  the  glissade. 
There  were  peculiarities  in  the  notion  which  need 
not  now  be  dwelt  upon,  inasmuch  as  the  weather 
rendered  them  all  futile. 

[I  am  not  sure  that  the  proposed  search  is  prac- 
ticable ;  it  would  certainly  require  unusually  good 
weather  for  its  execution. — April  1871.] 


1866]  THE   IITLIS.  25ft 


XXII. 

THE    TITLIS,    FINS  TEE  AARSCHLUCHT, 
PETERSGRAT,  AND  ITALIAN  LAKES. 

In  the  siimmer  of  1866  I  first  went  to  Engsteln, 
one  of  the  most  charming  spots  in  the  Alps.  It  had 
at  that  time  a  double  charm,  for  the  handsome 
young  widow  who  kept  the  inn  supplemented  by  her 
kindness  and  attention  within  doors  the  pleasures 
extracted  from  the  outer  world.  A  man  named 
Maurer,  of  Meyringen,  was  my  guide  for  a  time. 
We  climbed  the  Titlis,  going  straight  up  it  from 
the  Joch  Pass,  in  the  track  of  a  scampering  chamois 
which  showed  us  the  way.  The  Titlis  is  a  very 
noble  mass — one  of  the  few  which,  while  moderate 
in  height,  bear  a  lordly  weight  of  snow.  The  view 
from  the  summit  is  exceedingly  fine,  and  on  it  I 
repeated  with  a  hand  spectroscope  the  observations 
of  M.  Janssen  on  the  absorption-bands  of  aqueous 
vapour.  On  the  day  after  this  ascent  I  quitted 
Engsteln,  being  drawn  towards  the  Wellhorn  and 
Wetterhorn,  both  of  which,  as  seen  from  Engsteln, 
came  out  with  inexpressible  nobleness.     The  upper 


256  HOURS   OF    EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1866 

dome  of  heaven  was  of  the  deepest  blue,  while  only 
the  faintest  lightening  of  the  colour  towards  the 
horizon  indicated  the  augmented  thickness  of  the 
atmosphere  in  that  direction.  The  sun  was  very 
hot,  but  there  was  a  clear  rivulet  at  hand,  deepening 
here  and  there  into  pebbled  pools,  into  which  I 
plunged  at  intervals,  causing  my  guide  surprise  if 
not  anxiety ;  for  he  shared  the  common  siiper- 
stition  that  plunging,  when  hot,  into  cold  water  is 
dangerous.  The  danger,  and  a  very  serious  one  it 
is,  is  to  plunge  into  cold  water  when  cold.  The 
strongest  alone  can  then  bear  immersion  without 
damage. 

This  year  I  subjected  the  famous  Finsteraarschlucht 
to  a  closer  examination  than  ordinary.  The  earth- 
quake theory  already  adverted  to  was  prevalent 
regarding  it,  and  I  wished  to  see  whether  any 
evidences  existed  of  aqueous  erosion.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  the  Schlucht  or  gorge  is  cut 
through  a  great  barrier  of  limestone  rock  called  the 
Kirchet,  which  throws  itself  across  the  valley  of 
Hasli,  about  three-quarters  of  an  hour's  walk  above 
Meyringen.  The  plain  beyond  tlie  barrier,  on  which 
stands  the  hamlet  of  Imhof,  is  formed  uf  the  sedi- 
ment of  a  lake  of  which  the  Kirchet  constituted  the 
dam.  This  dam  is  now  cut  through  for  the  passage 
of  the  Aar,  forming  one  of  the  noblest  gorges  in 
Switzerland.     Near  the  summit  of  the  Kirchet  is  a 


1866]  FINSTERAARSCHLUCnX.  257 

house  with  a  signboard  inviting  the  traveller  to  visit 
the  Aarenschlucht,  a  narrow  lateral  gorge  which 
runs  down  to  the  very  bottom  of  the  principal  one. 
The  aspect  of  this  smaller  chasm  from  its  bottom  to 
its  top  proves  to  demonstration  that  water  had  in 
former  ages  worked  there  as  a  navigator.  It  is 
scooped,  rounded,  and  polished,  so  as  to  render  it 
palpable  to  the  common  eye  that  it  is  a  gorge  of 
erosion.  But  it  was  regarding  the  sides  of  the  great 
chasm  that  I  needed  instruction,  and  from  its  edge 
I  could  see  nothing  to  satisfy  me.  I  therefore 
stripped  and  waded  into  the  river  until  a  point  was 
reached  which  commanded  an  excellent  view  of  both 
sides  of  the  gorge.  The  water  was  cutting,  but  I 
was  repaid.  Below  me  on  the  left-hand  side  was 
a  jutting  cliff,  which  bore  the  thrust  of  the  river 
and  caused  the  Aar  to  swerve  from  its  direct  course. 
From  top  to  bottom  this  clifif  was  polished,  rounded, 
and  scooped.  There  was  no  room  for  doubt.  The 
river  which  now  runs  so  deeply  down  had  once  been 
above.  It  has  been  the  delver  of  its  own  channel 
through  the  barrier  of  the  Kirchet. 

I  went  on  to  Kosenlaui,  proposing  to  climb  the 
neighbouring  mountains  in  succession.  In  fact  I 
went  to  Switzerland  in  1866  with  a  particular 
hunger  for  the  heights.  But  the  weather  thickened 
before  Eosenlaui  was  reached,  and  on  the  night  fol- 
lowing the  morning  of  my  departure  from  Engsteln 


258  nOUES   of   exercise   in   the   alps.  [1866 

I  lay  upon  my  plaid  under  an  impervious  pine,  and 
watched  as  wild  a  thunderstorm  and  as  heavy  a 
downpour  of  rain  as  I  had  ever  seen.  Most  extra- 
ordinary was  the  flicker  on  cliffs  and  trees,  and  most 
tremendous  was  the  detonation  succeeding  each 
discharge.  The  fine  weather  came  thus  to  an  end, 
and  next  day  I  gave  up  the  Wetterhom  for  the 
ignoble  Faulhorn.  Here  the  wind  changed,  the  air 
became  piercingly  cold,  and  on  the  following  morn- 
ing heavy  snow-drifts  buttressed  the  doors,  windows, 
and  walls  of  the  inn.  We  broke  away,  sinking  at 
some  places  to  the  hips  in  snow.  A  descent  of  a 
thousand  feet  carried  us  from  the  bleakest  winter 
into  genial  summer.  INIy  companion  held  on  to  the 
beaten  track,  while  I  sought  a  rougher  and  more 
direct  one  to  the  Scheinigeplatte,  a  resting-place 
which  commands  a  noble  view  of  the  precipices  of 
the  Jungfrau.  We  were  solitary  visitors  there,  and 
I  filled  the  evening  with  Miss  Thackeray's  '  Story 
of  Elizabeth,'  which  some  benevolent  traveller  had 
left  at  the  hotel. 

Thence  we  dropped  do'wn  to  Lautcrbnmnen,  went 
up  the  valley  to  the  little  inn  at  Trechslawinen,  and 
crossed  the  Petersgrat  the  following  day.  The 
recent  precipitation  had  cleared  the  heavens  and  re- 
loaded the  heights.  It  was,  pcrliaps,  the  splendour 
of  the  weather  and  tlie  purity  of  tlie  snows,  aided 
by  the  subjective  effect  due  to  contrast  with  a  serieg 


1866]  PETBRSGRAT.  259 

of  most  dismal  ilays,  that  made  me  think  the  Peters- 
grat  so  noble  a  standpoint  for  a  view  of  the  moun- 
tains. The  horizontal  extent  was  vast,  and  the 
grouping  magnificent.  The  undoubted  monarch  of 
this  unparagoned  scene  was  the  Weisshorn,  and  this 
may  have  rendered  me  partial  in  my  judgment,  for 
men  like  to  see  what  they  love  exalted.  At  Flatten 
we  found  shelter  in  the  house  of  the  cure.  Next 
day  we  crossed  the  Lotschsattel,  and  swept  round  by 
the  Aletsch  glacier  to  the  -^ggischhom. 

Here  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  a  very  ardent 
climber,  who  entertains  peculiar  notions  regarding 
guides.  He  deems  them,  and  rightly  so,  very  ex- 
pensive, and  he  also  feels  pleasure  in  trying  his  own 
powers.  Very  likely  it  is  my  habit  of  going  alone 
that  causes  me  to  sympathise  with  him.  I  would, 
however,  admonish  him  that  he  may  go  too  far  in 
this  direction,  and  probably  his  own  experience  has 
by  this  time  forestalled  the  admonition.  Still,  if 
skill,  strength,  and  self-reliance  are  things  to  be 
cultivated  in  the  Alps,  they  are,  within  certain 
limits,  best  exercised  and  developed  in  the  absence 
of  guides.  And  if  the  real  climbers  are  ever  to  be 
differentiated  from  the  crowd  who  write  and  talk 
about  tlie  mountains,,  it  is  only  to  bo  done  by  dis- 
pensing with  professional  assistance.  But  no  man 
without  natural  aptitude  and  duo  training  would  be 
justified  in  committing  himself  to  ventures  of  this 


260  HOURS   OF    EXERCISE    IN   THE    ALPS.  [1866 

kind,  and  it  is  an  error  to  suppose  that  the  necessary 
knowledge  can  be  obtained  in  one  or  two  summers 
in  the  Alps.  Climbing  is  an  art,  and  those  who 
wish  to  cultivate  it  on  their  own  account  ought  to 
give  themselves  sufficient  previous  practice  in  the 
company  of  first-rate  guides.  Here,  moreover,  as 
in  every  other  sphere  of  human  action,  whether 
intellectual  or  physical,  as  indeed  among  the  guides 
themselves,  real  eminence  falls  only  to  the  lot  of 
few.  Whatever  be  the  amount  of  preparation,  real 
climbers  must  still  remain  select  men. 

From  the  Bel  Alp,  Mi.  Girdlestone  and  I,  without 
any  guide,  made  an  attack  upon  the  Aletschhom. 
We  failed.  The  weather  as  we  started  was  unde- 
cided, but  we  hoped  the  turn  might  be  in  our 
favour.  We  first  kept  along  the  Alp,  with  the  Jaggi 
glacier  to  our  right,  then  crossed  its  moraine,  and 
made  the  trunk  glacier  our  highway  until  we 
reached  the  point  of  confluence  of  its  branches. 
Here  we  turned  to  the  right,  the  Aletschhom,  from 
base  to  summit,  coming  into  view.  We  reached 
the  true  base  of  the  mountain,  and  without  halting 
breasted  its  snow.  But  as  we  climbed  the  atmo- 
sphere thickened  more  and  more.  About  the  Nest- 
horn  the  horizon  deepened  to  pitchy  darkness,  and 
on  the  Aletschhom  itself  hung  a  cloud,  which  we  at 
first  hoped  would  melt  before  the  strengthening  sun, 
but  which  instead  of  melting  became  denser.     Now 


1866]  ITALIAN   LAKES.  261 

and  then  an  echoing  rumble  of  the  wind  warned  us 
that  we  might  expect  rough  handling  above.  We 
persisted,  however,  and  reached  a  considerable 
height,  unwilling  to  admit  that  the  weather  was 
against  us,  until  a  more  savage  roar  and  a  ruder 
shake  than  ordinary  caused  us  to  halt,  and  look 
more  earnestly  and  anxiously  into  the  darkening 
atmosphere.  We  were  forced  to  give  in,  and  during 
our  descent  the  air  was  thick  and  dark  with  falling 
snow.  Holding  on  in  the  dimness  to  the  medial 
moraine,  we  managed  to  get  down  the  glacier,  and 
to  clear  it  at  a  practicable  point,  whence,  guided 
by  the  clififs  which  flanked  our  right,  and  which 
became  visible  only  when  we  came  almost  into 
contact  with  them,  we  liit  the  proper  track  to  the 
Bel  Alp  hotel. 

Though  my  visits  to  the  Alps  had  already  nmnbered 
thirteen,  I  had  never  gone  so  far  southward  as  the 
Italian  lakes.  The  perfectly  unmanageable  weather 
of  July  1866  caused  me  to  cross  with  Mr.  Girdlestone 
into  Italy,  in  the  hope  that  a  respite  of  ten  or 
twelve  days  might  improve  the  temper  of  the 
mountains.  We  walked  over  the  Simplon  to  the 
village  of  the  same  name,  and  took  thence  the 
diligence  to  Domo  d'Ossola  and  Baveno.  The  at- 
mospheric change  was  wonderful ;  and  still  the 
clear  air  which  we  enjoyed  below  was  the  self-same 
air  that  heaped  clouds  and  snow  upon  the  mountains. 


262  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [18GG 

It  came  across  the  heated  plains  of  Lombardy 
charged  with  moisture,  but  the  moisture  was 
in  the  transparent  condition  of  true  vapour,  and 
hence  invisible.  Tilted  by  the  mountains,  the  air 
rose,  and  as  it  expanded  it  became  chilled,  and  as  it 
became  chilled  it  discharged  its  vapour  as  visible 
cloud,  the  globules  of  which  swelled  by  coalescence 
into  raindrops  on  the  mountain-flanks,  or  were 
frozen  to  snow  upon  the  mountain-heads. 

We  halted  on  the  margin  of  the  Lago  Maggiore 
I  could  hear  the  lisping  of  the  waters  on  the  shingle 
far  into  the  night.  My  window  looked  eastward, 
and  through  it  could  be  seen  the  first  warming  of 
the  sky  at  the  approach  of  dawn.  I  rose,  and 
watched  the  growth  of  colour  all  along  the  east. 
The  mountains,  from  mere  masses  of  darkness  pro- 
jected against  the  heavens,  became  empurpled.  It 
was  not  as  a  mere  wash  of  coloiu*  overspreading 
their  surfaces.  They  blent  with  the  atmosphere  as 
if  they  were  part  and  parcel  of  the  general  purple  of 
the  air.  Nobody  was  stirring  at  the  time,  and  the 
'  lap '  of  the  lake  upon  its  shore  only  increased  the 
sense  of  silence. 

Tho  holy  hour  -was  qiilct  as  a  nun 
Breathless  with  adoration. 

In  my  subsequent  experience  of  the  Italian  lakes 
I  met  with  nothing  which  affected  me  so  deeply  aa 
this  morning  scene  on  the  Lago  Maggiore. 


866]  MILAN    AND   COMO.  263 

From  Baveno  we  crossed  the  lake  to  Luino,  and 
went  thence  to  Lugano.  At  Belaggio,  on  the  junc- 
tion of  the  two  branches  of  the  Lake  of  Como,  we 
halted  a  couple  of  days.  Como  itself  we  reached  in 
a  small  sailing-boat,  as  a  storm  prevented  the  steamer 
from  taking  us.  There  we  saw  the  statue  of  Volta 
— a  prophet  justly  honoured  in  his  own  country. 
From  Como  we  went  to  Milan.  A  climber,  of  course, 
could  not  forego  the  pleasure  of  looking  at  Monte 
Rosa  from  the  cathedral  roof.  The  distribution  of 
the  statues  magnified  the  apparent  vastness  of  the 
pile ;  still  the  impression  made  on  me  by  this  great 
edifice  was  one  of  disappointment.  Its  front  seemed 
to  illustrate  an  attempt  to  cover  meanness  of  concep 
tion  by  profusion  of  adornment.  The  interior,  how- 
ever, notwithstanding  the  cheat  of  the  ceiling,  is 
exceedingly  grand. 

From  Milan  we  went  to  Orta,  where  we  had  a 
plunge  into  the  lake.  We  crossed  it  subsequently, 
and  walked  on  to  Varallo  :  thence  by  Fobello  over  a 
country  of  noble  beauty  to  Ponte  Grande  in  the  Val 
Ansasca.  Thence  again  by  Macugnaga,  over  the 
deep  snow  of  the  Monte  Moro,  reaching  Mattmark 
in  drenching  rain.  The  temper  of  the  northern 
slopes  did  not  appear  to  have  improved  during  our 
absence.  We  returned  to  the  Bel  Alp,  fitful 
triumphs  of  the  sun  causing  us  to  hope  that  we  might 
still  have  fair  play  upon  the  Aletschhorn.  But  the  day 


264  HOURS   OF    EXERCISE   IN    THE    ALPS.  [1866 

after  our  arrival  snow  fell  so  heavily  as  to  cover  the 
pastures  for  2,000  feet  below  the  hotel.  Partial 
famine  among  the  herds  was  the  consequence.  They 
had  eventually  to  be  driven  below  the  snow- line. 
Avalanches  were  not  unfrequent  on  slopes  which 
a  day  or  two  previously  had  been  covered  with 
grass  and  flowers.  In  this  condition  of  things 
Mr.  Milman,  Mr.  Girdlestone,  and  I  climbed  the 
Sparrenhorn,  and  found  its  heavy-laden  Kamm 
almost  as  hard  as  that  of  JNIonte  Kosa.  Occupation 
out  of  doors  was,  however,  insufficient  to  fill  the 
mind,  so  I  wound  my  plaid  around  my  loins,  and  in 
my  cold  bedroom  studied  '  Mozley  upon  Miracles. 


1867',  ASCENT   OF  THE   EIGER.  265 


XXIII. 

ASCENT  OF  THE  EIGER  AND  PASSAGE   OF 
THE  TRIFT. 

Gkindelwald  was  my  first  halting-place  in  the 
summer  of  1867  :  I  reached  it,  in  company  with  a 
friend,  on  Sunday  evening  the  7th  of  July.  The 
air  of  the  glaciers  and  the  excellent  little  dinners 
of  the  Adler  rendered  me  rapidly  fit  for  mountain- 
work.  The  first  day  we  made  an  excursion  along 
the  lower  glacier  to  the  Kastenstein,  crossing,  in  re- 
turning, the  Strahleck  branch  of  the  glacier  above 
the  ice-fall,  and  coming  down  by  the  Zasenberg. 
The  second  day  was  spent  upon  the  upper  glacier. 
The  sunset  covered  the  crest  of  the  Eiger  with 
indescribable  gloiy  that  evening.  It  gave  defini- 
tion to  a  vague  desire  I  had  previously  entertained 
to  climb  the  mountain,  and  I  forthwith  arranged 
with  excellent  old  Christian  Michel,  and  with  Peter 
Baumann,  the  preliminaries  of  the  ascent. 

At  half-past  one  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the 
nth  we  started  from  the  Wengern  Alp ;  no  trace  of 
cloud  was  visible  in  the  heavens,  which  were  sown 
broadcast  with  stars.  Those  low  down  twinkled 
with  extraordinary  vivacity,  many  of  them  flashing 


266  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1867 

lights  of  different  colours.  When  an  opera-glass 
was  pointed  to  such  a  star,  and  shaken,  the  line  of 
light  described  by  the  image  of  the  star  resolved 
itself  into  a  string  of  richly  coloured  beads  :  rubies 
and  emeralds  hung  thus  together  on  the  same  curve. 
The  dark  intervals  between  the  beads  corresponded 
to  the  moments  of  extinction  of  the  star.  Over  the 
summit  of  the  Wetterhom  the  Pleiades  hung  like  a 
diadem,  while  at  intervals  a  solitary  meteor  shot 
across  the  sky. 

We  passed  along  the  Alp,  and  then  over  the  balled 
snow  and  broken  ice  cast  down  a  glacier  which 
fronted  us.  Here  the  ascent  began ;  we  passed  from 
snow  to  rock  and  from  rock  to  snow  by  turns.  The 
steepness  for  a  time  was  moderate,  the  only  thing 
requiring  caution  being  the  thin  crusts  of  ice  upon 
the  rocks  over  which  water  had  trickled  the  previous 
day.  The  east  gradually  brightened,  the  stars  be- 
come paler  and  disappeared,  and  at  length  the  crown 
of  the  adjacent  Jungfrau  rose  out  of  the  twilight 
into  the  rose  of  the  sun.  The  bloom  crept  gradually 
downwards  over  the  snows.  At  length  the  whole 
mountain-world  partook  of  the  colour.  It  is  not  in 
the  night  nor  in  the  day — it  is  not  in  any  statical 
condition  of  the  atmosphere — that  the  mountains 
look  most  sublime.  It  is  during  the  few  minutes 
of  transition  from  twilight  to  full  day  through  the 
splendours  of  the  dawn. 


1867]  ASCENT    OF   THE   EIGEE.  267 

Seven  hours'  climbing  brought  us  to  the  higher 
slopes,  which  were  for  the  most  part  ice,  and  re- 
quired deep  step-cutting.  The  whole  duty  of  the 
climber  on  such  slopes  is  to  cut  his  steps  properly, 
and  to  stand  in  them  securely.  At  one  period  of  my 
mountain  life  I  looked  lightly  on  the  possibility  of 
a  slip,  having  full  faith  in  the  resources  of  him  who 
accompanied  me,  and  very  little  doubt  of  my  own. 
Experience  has  qualified  this  faith  in  the  power  even 
of  the  best  of  climbers  upon  a  steep  ice-slope.  A 
slip  under  such  circumstances  must  not  occur. 

The  Jungfrau  began  her  cannonade  very  early, 
five  avalanches  having  thundered  down  her  pre- 
cipices before  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Bau- 
man,  being  the  youngest  man,  undertook  the  labour 
of  step-cutting,  wliich  the  hardness  of  the  ice  ren- 
dered severe.  He  was  glad  from  time  to  time  to 
escape  to  the  snow-cornice  which,  unsupported  save 
by  its  own  tenacity,  overhung  the  Grindelwald  side 
of  the  mountain,  checking  himself  at  inteiTals  by 
looking  over  the  edge  of  the  cornice,  to  assure  him- 
self that  its  strength  was  sufiicient  to  bear  our 
weight.  A  wilder  precipice  is  hardly  to  be  seen 
than  this  wall  of  the  Eiger,  viewed  from  the  cornice 
at  its  top.  It  seems  to  drop  sheer  for  eight  thou- 
sand feet  down  to  Grindelwald.  When  the  cornice 
became  unsafe,  the  guide  retreated,  and  step-cutting 
recommenced.     We  reached  the  summit  before  nine 


268  HOURS    OF   EXERCISE   IN    THE    ALPS.  [ISSJ 

o'clock,  and  had  from  it  an  outlook  over  as  gioriouij 
a  scene  as  this  world  perhaps  aflfords. 


On  the  following  day  I  went  down  to  Lauter- 
brunnen,  and  afterwards  crossed  the  Petersgrat  to 
Flatten,  where,  the  door  of  the  cure  being  closed 
against  travellers,  we  were  forced  into  dirty  quarters 
in  an  adjacent  house.  From  Flatten,  instead  of  going 
as  before  over  the  Lotschsattel,  we  struck  obliquely 
across  the  ridge  above  the  Nesthom,  and  got  down 
upon  the  Jaggi  glacier,  making  thus  an  exceedingly 
fine  excursion  from  Flatten  to  the  Bel  Alp.  Thence, 
after  a  day's  halt,  I  pushed  on  to  Zermatt. 

I  have  already  mentioned  Carrel,  the  hersaglier, 
who  accompanied  Bennen  and  myself  in  our  attempt 
upon  the  Matterliorn  in  1862,  and  who  in  1865 
reached  the  summit  of  the  mountain.  With  him 
I  had  been  in  correspondence  for  some  time,  and 
from  his  letters  an  enthusiastic  desire  to  be  my 
guide  up  the  Matterhorn  might  be  inferred.  From 
the  Eififelberg  I  crossed  the  Theodule  to  Breuil, 
where  I  saw  Carrel.  He  had  naturally  and  de- 
servedly grown  in  his  own  estimation.  But  I 
was  discomfited  by  the  form  his  self-consciousness 
assumed.  His  demands  were  exorbitant,  and  he 
also  objected  to  the  excellent  company  of  Christian 
Michel.  In  fact  my  friend  Carrel  was  no  longer 
a   reasonable   man.     I   believe   he   afterwards   felt 


1867]  THE    TRIFT   PASS.  269 

ashamed  of  himself,  and  sent  his  friends  Bich  and 
Meynet  to  speak  to  me  while  he  kept  aloof.  But 
the  weather  was  then  too  bad  to  permit  of  any 
definite  arrangement  being  made. 

I  waited  at  the  EiflFel  for  twelve  days,  making 
small  excursions  here  and  there.  But,  though  the 
weather  was  not  so  abominable  as  it  had  been  in  the 
previous  year,  the  frequent  snow-discharges  on  the 
Matterhom  kept  it  unassailable.  In  company  with 
Mr.  Crawfurd  Grrove,  who  had  engaged  Carrel  as  his 
guide,  JNIichel  being  mine,  I  made  the  pass  of  the 
Trift  from  Zermatt  to  Zinal.  I  could  understand 
and  share  the  enthusiasm  experienced  by  Mr.  Hinch- 
liff  in  crossing  this  truly  noble  pass.  It  is  certainly 
one  of  the  finest  in  the  whole  Alps.  For  that  one 
day,  moreover,  the  weather  was  magnificent.  Next 
day  we  crossed  to  Evolena,  going  considerably  astray, 
and  thus  converting  a  light  day  into  a  rather  heavy 
one.  From  Evolena  we  purposed  crossing  the  Col 
d'Erin  back  to  Zermatt,  but  the  weather  would  not 
let  us.  This  excursion  had  been  made  with  the  view 
of  allowing  the  Matterhom  a  little  time  to  arrange 
its  temper ;  but  the  temper  continued  sulky,  and  at 
length  wearied  me  out.  "We  went  round  by  the 
valley  of  the  Khone  to  Zermatt,  and,  finding  matters 
worse  than  ever,  both  Mr.  Grove  and  myself  returned 
to  Visp,  intending  to  quit  Switzerland  altogether. 
Here  he  changed  his  mind  and  returned  to  Zermatt ; 


270  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN    THE    ALPS.  [lr^7 

on  the  same  day  the  weather  changed  also,  and 
continued  fine  for  a  fortnight.  He  succeeded  in 
getting  with  Carrel  to  the  top  of  the  Matterhom, 
and  I  succeeded  in  joining  the  British  Association 
at  Dundee.  A  ramble  in  the  Highlands,  including 
a  visit  to  the  Parallel  Roads  of  Glenroy,  conclud3d 
my  vacation  in  1867. 


1 868 J  THE   MATTEKHORN— THIKD   ASSAULT.  271 


XXIV. 

THE   MATTERHORN— THIRD   AND    LAST 
ASSAULT. 

The  oil  of  life  burnt  rather  low  with  me  in  1868. 
Driven  from  London  by  Dr.  Bence  Jones,  I  reached 
the  Giessbach  hotel  on  the  Lake  of  Brientz  early 
in  July.  No  pleasanter  position  could  be  found  for 
an  invalid.  My  friend  Hirst  was  with  me,  and  we 
made  various  little  excursions  in  the  neighbourhood. 
The  most  pleasant  of  these  was  to  the  Hinterburger 
See,  a  small  and  lonely  lake  high  up  among  the 
hills,  fringed  on  one  side  by  pines,  and  overshadowed 
on  the  other  by  the  massive  limestone  buttresses  of 
the  Hinterburg.  It  is  an  exceedingly  lovely  spot, 
but  rarely  visited.  The  Giessbach  hotel  is  an 
admirably  organised  establishment.  The  table  is 
served  by  Swiss  girls  in  Swiss  costume,  fresh, 
handsome,  and  modest,  well  brought  up,  who  come 
there,  not  as  servants,  but  to  learn  the  mysteries  of 
housekeeping.  And  among  her  maidens  moved  like 
a  little  queen  the  daughter  of  the  host — noiseless, 
but  effectual  in  her  rule  and  governance.  I  went 
to    the    Giessbach    with    a    prejudice   against   the 


272  HOUBS   OF   EXERCISK    IN   THE    ALPS.  [1868 

illumination  of  the  fall.  The  crowd  of  spectators 
may  suggest  the  theatre,  but  the  lighting  up  of  the 
water  is  fine.  I  liked  the  colourless  light  best ;  it 
merely  intensified  the  contrast  revealed  by  ordinary 
daylight  between  the  white  foam  of  the  cascades 
and  the  black  surrounding  pines. 

From  the  Griessbach  we  went  to  Thun,  and  thence 
up  the  Simmenthal  to  Lenk.  Over  the  sulphur  spring 
a  large  hotel  has  been  recently  erected,  and  here  we 
found  a  number  of  Swiss  and  Grermans,  who  thought 
the  waters  did  them  good.  In  one  large  room  the 
liquid  gushes  from  a  tap  into  a  basin,  diffusing 
through  the  place  the  odour  of  rotten  eggs.  The 
patients  like  this  smell ;  indeed  they  regard  its 
foulness  as  a  measure  of  their  benefit.  The  director 
of  the  establishment  is  intelligent  and  obliging, 
sparing  no  pains  to  meet  the  wishes  and  promote 
the  comfort  of  his  guests.  We  wandered  while  at 
Lenk  to  the  summit  of  the  Eawyl  pass,  visited  the 
Siebenbriinnen,  where  the  river  Simmen  bursts  full- 
grown  from  the  rocks,  and  we  should  have  clambered 
up  the  Wildstrubel  had  the  weather  been  tolerable. 
From  Lenk  we  went  to  Gsteig,  a  finely  situated 
hamlet,  but  not  celebrated  for  the  peace  and  com- 
fort of  its  inn  ;  and  from  Gsteig  to  the  Liablerets 
hotel.  While  there  I  clambered  up  the  Dvablerets 
mountain,  and  was  amazed  at  the  exteni  of  the 
snow-field  upon  its  tabular  top.     Tlie  peaks,  if  they 


1868]  THE    MATTERHORN— THIRD    ASSAULT.  273 

ever  existed,  have  "been  shorn  away,  and  miles  of 
flat  neve,  unseen  from  below,  overspread  their 
section. 

From  the  Diablerets  we  drove  down  to  Aigle. 
The  Traubenkur  had  not  commenced,  and  there 
was  therefore  ample  space  for  us  at  the  excellent 
hotel.  We  were  compelled  to  spend  a  night  at 
Martig-ny.  I  heard  the  trumpet  of  its  famous 
mosquito,  but  did  not  feel  its  attacks.  The  follow- 
ing night  was  more  pleasantly  spent  on  the  cool  col 
of  the  Great  St.  Bernard.  On  Tuesday,  July  21, 
we  reached  Aosta,  and,  in  accordance  with  previous 
telegraphic  arrangement,  met  there  the  Chanoine 
Carrel.  Jean-Jacques  Carrel,  the  old  companion  of 
Mr.  Hawkins  and  myself,  and  others  at  Breuil,  were 
dissatisfied  with  the  behaviour  of  the  bersaglier  last 
year,  and  this  feeling  the  Chanoine  shared.  He  had 
written  to  me  during  the  winter,  stating  that  two 
new  men  had  scaled  the  Matterhom,  and  that  they 
were  ready  to  accompany  me  anywhere.  He  now 
drove,  with  Hirst  and  myself,  to  Chatillon,  where  at 
the  noisy  and  comfortless  inn  we  spent  the  night. 
Here  Hirst  quitted  me,  and  I  tm-ned  with  the 
Chanoine  up  the  valley  to  Breuil. 

At  Val  Tournanche  I  saw  a  maiden  niece  of  the 
Chanoine  who  had  gone  high  up  the  Matterhom,  and 
who,  had  the  wind  not  assailed  her  petticoats  too 
roughly,  might,  it  was  said,  have  reached  the  top. 


274  HOURS  OF   EXERCISE    IN    TUB    ALPS.  [1868 

I  can  believe  it.  Her  wrist  was  like  a  weaver's  beam, 
and  her  frame  seemed  a  mass  of  potential  energy. 
The  Chanoine  had  recommended  to  me  as  guides 
the  brothers  Joseph  and  Pierre  Maquignaz,  of  Val 
Tournanche,  his  praises  of  Joseph  as  a  man  of  un- 
shaken coolness,  courage,  and  capacity  as  a  climber 
being  particularly  strong.  Previous  to  reaching 
Breuil,  I  saw  this  Joseph,  who  seemed  to  divine  by 
instinct  my  name  and  aim. 

Carrel  was  at  Breuil,  looking  very  dark ,  Bich  pe- 
titioned for  a  porter's  post,  blaming  Carrel  bitterly 
for  his  greed  in  the  previous  year ;  but  I  left  the 
arrangement  of  these  matters  wholly  in  the  hands 
of  Maquignaz.  He  joined  me  in  the  evening,  and 
on  the  following  day  we  ascended  one  of  the  neigh- 
bouring summits,  discussing  as  we  went  our  chances 
on  the  Matterhorn.  In  1867  the  chief  precipitation 
took  place  in  a  low  atmospheric  layer,  the  base  of 
the  mountain  being  heavily  laden  with  snow,  while 
the  summit  and  the  higher  rocks  were  bare.  In 
1868  the  distribution  was  inverted,  the  top  being 
heavily  laden  and  the  lower  rocks  clear.  An  addi- 
tional element  of  uncertainty  was  thus  introduced. 
Maquignaz  could  not  say  what  obstacles  the  snow 
might  oppose  to  us  above,  but  he  was  resolute  and 
hopeful.  j\Iy  desire  was  to  finish  for  ever  my  contest 
with  the  Matterhorn  by  making  a  pass  over  its  sum- 
mit from  Breuil  to  Zermatt.     In    tliis  attempt  my 


1868]  THE   MATTERHOEN— THIRD    ASSADLT.  275 

guide  expressed  his  willingness  to  join  me,  his  inter- 
est in  the  project  being  apparently  equal  to  my  own. 

He,  however,  only  knew  the  Zermatt  side  of  the 
mountain  through  inspection  from  below ;  and  he 
acknowledged  that  a  dread  of  it  had  filled  him  the 
previous  year.  Ho  now  reasoned,  however,  that  as 
Mr.  Whymper  and  the  Taug-walds  had  managed  to 
descend,  we  ought  to  be  able  to  do  the  same.  On 
the  Friday  we  climbed  to  the  Col  de  la  Furka, 
examined  from  it  the  northern  face  of  the  pyramid, 
and  discovered  the  men  who  were  engaged  in  building 
the  cabin  on  that  side.  We  worked  afterwards  along 
the  ridge  which  stretches  from  the  Matterhorn  to 
the  Theodule,  crossing  its  guUeys  and  scaling  all  its 
heights.  It  was  a  pleasant  piece  of  discipline,  on 
new  ground,  to  both  my  guide  and  me. 

On  the  Thursday  evening  a  violent  thunderstorm 
had  burst  over  Breuil,  discharging  new  snow  upon 
the  heights,  but  also  clearing  the  oppressive  air. 
Though  the  heavens  seemed  clear  in  the  early  part 
of  Friday,  clouds  showed  a  disposition  to  meet  us 
from  the  south  as  we  returned  from  the  col.  I 
enquired  of  my  companion  whether,  in  the  event 
of  the  day  being  fine,  he  would  be  ready  to  start  on 
Sunday.  His  answer  was  a  prompt  negative.  In 
Val  Toumanche,  he  said,  they  always  '  sanctified  the 
Sunday.'  I  mentioned  Bennen,  my  pious  Catholic 
guide,  whom  I  permitted  and  encouraged  to  attend 


276    '  HOURS   OF    EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1868 

his  mass  on  all  possible  occasions,  but  who,  never- 
theless, always  yielded  without  a  murmur  to  the 
demands  of  the  weather.  The  reasoning  had  its 
effect.  On  Saturday  Maquignaz  saw  his  confessor, 
and  arranged  with  him  to  have  a  mass  at  2  a.m.  on 
Sunday;  after  which,  unshaded  by  the  sense  of 
duties  unperformed,  he  would  commence  the  ascent. 

The  claims  of  religion  being  thus  met,  the  point 
of  next  importance,  that  of  money,  was  set  at  rest 
by  my  immediate  acceptance  of  the  tariff  published 
by  the  Chanoine  Carrel.  The  problem  being  thus 
reduced  to  one  of  muscular  physics,  we  pondered 
the  question  of  provisions,  decided  on  a  bill  of  fare, 
and  committed  its  execution  to  the  industrious 
mistress  of  the  hotel. 

A  fog,  impenetrable  to  vision,  had  filled  the  whole 
of  the  Val  Tournanche  on  Saturday  night,  and  the 
mountains  were  half  concealed  and  half  revealed  by 
this  fog  when  we  rose  on  Sunday  morning.  The 
east  at  sunrise  was  louring,  and  the  light  which 
streamed  through  the  cloud  orifices  was  drawn  in 
ominous  red  bars  across  the  necks  of  the  mountains. 
It  was  one  of  those  uncomfortable  Laodicean  days 
which  engender  indecision — threatening,  but  not 
sufficiently  so  to  warrant  postponement.  Two  guides 
and  two  porters  were  considered  necessary  for  the 
first  day's  climb.  A  volunteer,  moreover,  attached 
himself  to  our  party,  who  carried  a  sheepskin  as  part 


.868]  THE    MATTEllIIORN— TniRD    ASSAULT.  277 

of  the  furniture  of  the  cabin.  To  lighten  their 
labour,  the  porters  took  a  mule  with  them  as  far  as 
the  quadruped  could  climb,  and  afterwards  divided 
the  load  among  themselves.  While  they  did  so  I 
observed  the  weather.  The  sun  had  risen  with  con- 
siderable power,  and  had  broken  the  cloud-plane 
to  pieces.  The  severed  clouds  gathered  into  masses 
more  or  less  spherical,  and  were  rolled  grandly  over 
the  ridges  into  Switzerland.  Save  for  a  swathe  of 
fog  which  now  and  then  wrapped  its  flanks,  the 
Matterhom  itself  remained  clear,  and  strong  hopes 
were  raised  that  the  progress  of  the  weather  was  in 
the  right  direction. 

We  halted  at  the  base  of  the  Tete  du  Lion,  a  bold 
precipice  formed  by  the  sudden  cutting  down  of  the 
ridge  which  flanks  the  Val  Tournanche  to  the  right. 
From  its  base  to  the  Matterhorn  stretches  the  Col 
du  Lion,  crossed  for  the  first  time  in  1860,  by  Mr. 
Hawkins,  myself,  and  our  two  guides.  We  were  now 
beside  a  snow-gulley,  which  was  cut  by  a  deep  fui-row 
along  its  centre,  and  otherwise  scarred  by  the  descent 
of  stones.  Here  each  man  arranged  his  bundle  and 
himself  so  as  to  cross  the  guiley  in  the  minimum  of 
time.  The  passage  was  safely  made,  a  few  flying 
shingle  only  coming  down  upon  us.  But  danger 
declared  itself  where  it  was  not  expected.  Joseph 
Maquignaz  led  the  way  up  the  rocks.  I  was  next, 
Pierre  Mac^uignaz  next,  and  last  of  all  the  porters. 
13 


278  HOURS   OF  EXERCISE   IN   TUB   ALPS.  [1868 

Suddenly  a  yell  issued  from  the  leader :  '  Cachez- 
V0U8 ! '  I  crouched  instinctively  against  the  rock, 
which  formed  a  by  no  means  perfect  shelter,  when  a 
boulder  buzzed  past  me  through  the  air,  smote  the 
rocks  below  me,  and  with  a  savage  hum  flew  down  to 
the  lower  glacier.  Thus  warned,  we  swerved  to  an 
arete,  and  when  stones  fell  afterwards  they  plunged 
to  the  right  or  left  of  us. 

In  18G0  the  great  couloir  which  stretches  from 
the  Col  du  Lion  downwards  was  filled  with  a  neve  o\ 
deep  snow.  But  the  atmospheric  conditions  which 
have  caused  the  glaciers  of  Switzerland  to  shrink  so 
remarkably  during  the  last  ten  years  '  have  swept 
away  this  neve.  We  had  descended  it  in  1860 
hip-deep  in  snow,  and  I  was  now  reminded  of  its 
steepness  by  the  inclination  of  its  bed.  Maquignaa 
was  incredulous  when  I  pointed  out  to  him  the  line 
of  descent  to  which  we  had  been  committed,  in  order 
to  avoid  the  falling  stones  of  the  Tete  du  Lion. 
Bennen's  warnings  on  the  occasion  were  very  em- 
phatic, and  I  could  understand  their  wisdom  now 
better  than  I  did  them. 

When  Mr.  Hawkins  and  myself  first   tried  the 

'  I  should  estimate  the  lerel  of  the  Lower  Grindclwahl  glacier,  at 
•.he  point  where  it  is  usxially  entered  upon  to  reach  the  Eismeer,  to 
be  nearly  one  hundred  feet  vertically  lower  in  1867  tJ'jan  it  ■was  in 
1856.  I  am  glad  to  find  that  t  lie  question  of  '  Benchmarks  '  to  fix 
Buch  changes  of  level  is  now  before  the  Council  of  the  Britisli 
Association. 


:8G8]  THE    MATTERHORN— THIRD    ASSAULT.  279 

Matterhorn,  a  temporary  danger,  sufficient  to  quell 
for  a  time  the  enthusiasm  even  of  our  lion-hearted 
guide,  was  added  to  the  permanent  ones.  Fresh 
snow  had  fallen  two  days  before  ;  it  had  quite  over- 
sprinkled  the  Matterhorn,  converting  the  brown  of 
its  crags  into  an  iron-grey;  this  snow  had  been 
melted  and  refrozen,  forming  upon  the  rocks  an 
enamelling  of  ice.  Besides  their  physical  front, 
moreover,  in  1860,  the  rocks  presented  a  psycho- 
logical one,  derived  from  the  rumour  of  their  savage 
inaccessibility.  The  crags,  the  ice,  and  the  character 
of  the  mountain,  all  conspired  to  stir  the  feelings. 
Much  of  the  wild  mystery  has  now  vanished,  espe- 
cially at  those  points  which  in  1860  were  places  oi 
virgin  difficulty,  but  down  which  ropes  now  hang  tc 
assist  the  climber.  The  intrinsic  grandeur  of  the 
Matterhorn,  however,  cannot  be  effaced. 

After  some  hours  of  steady  climbing  we  halted 
upon  a  platform  beside  the  tattered  remnant  of  one 
of  the  tents  employed  by  me  in  1862.  Here  we 
sunned  ourselves  for  an  hour.  We  subsequently 
worked  upward,  scaling  the  crags  and  rounding  the 
bases  of  those  wild  and  wonderful  rock-towers,  into 
which  the  weather  of  ages  has  hewn  the  southern 
ridge  of  the  Matterhorn.  The  work  required  know- 
ledge, but  with  a  fair  amount  of  skill  it  is  safe  work. 
I  can  fancy  nothing  more  fascinating  to  a  man  given 
by  nature  and  habit  to  such  things  than  a  climb 


880  HOUKS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE    ALPS.  [1888 

alone  among  these  crags  and  precipices.  He  need 
not  be  theological,  but,  if  complete,  the  grandeur  oi 
the  place  would  certainly  fill  him  with  religious  awe. 

Looked  at  from  Breuil,  the  Matterhorn  presents 
two  summits — the  one,  the  summit  proper,  a  square 
rock-tower  in  appearance ;  the  other,  which  is  really 
the  end  of  a  sharp  ridge  abutting  against  the  rock- 
tower,  an  apparently  conical  peak.  On  this  peak 
Bennen  and  myself  planted  our  flagstaff  in  1862. 
At  some  distance  below  it  the  mountain  is  crossed  by 
an  almost  horizontal  ledge,  always  loaded  with  snow, 
which,  from  its  resemblance  to  a  white  necktie,  has 
been  called  the  Cravate.  On  this  ledge  a  cabin  was 
put  together  in  1867.  It  stands  above  the  precipice 
where  I  quitted  my  rope  in  1862.  Up  this  precipice, 
by  the  aid  of  a  thicker — I  will  not  say  a  stronger — 
rope,  we  now  scrambled,  and,  following  the  exact 
route  pursued  by  Bennen  and  myself  five  years 
previously,  we  came  to  the  end  of  the  Cravate.  At 
some  places  the  snow  upon  the  ledge  fell  steeply 
from  its  junction  with  the  cliff ;  deep  step-cutting 
was  also  needed  where  the  substance  had  been  melted 
and  recongealed.  The  passage,  however,  was  soon 
accomplished  along  the  Cravate  to  the  cabin,  which 
was  almost  filled  with  snow. 

Our  first  need  was  water.  We  could,  of  course, 
always  melt  the  snow,  but  this  would  involve  a 
wasteful  expenditure  of  heat.     The  cliff  at  the  h-dse 


1868 J  THE    MATTERHOKN— THIRD    ASSAULT.  281 

of  which  the  hut  was  built,  overhung,  and  from  its 
edge  the  liquefied  snow  fell  in  showers  beyond  the 
cabin.  Four  ice-axes  were  fixed  on  the  ledge,  and 
over  them  was  spread  the  residue  of  a  second  tent 
which  I  had  left  at  Breuil  in  1862.  The  water 
falling  upon  the  canvas  flowed  towards  its  centre. 
Here  an  orifice  was  made,  through  which  the 
liquid  descended  into  vessels  placed  to  receive  it. 
Some  modification  of  this  plan  might  probably  be 
employed  with  profit  for  the  storing-up  of  water  for 
droughty  years  in  England. 

I  lay  for  some  hours  in  the  warm  sunshine,  in 
presence  of  the  Italian  mountains,  watching  the 
mutations  of  the  air.  But  when  the  sun  sank  the 
air  became  chill,  and  we  all  retired  to  the  cabin. 
We  had  no  fire,  though  warmth  was  much  needed. 
A  lover  of  the  mountains,  and  of  his  kind,  had 
contributed  an  india-rubber  mattrass,  on  which  I 
lay  down,  a  light  blanket  being  thrown  over  me, 
while  the  guides  and  porters  were  rolled  up  in 
sheepskins.  The  mattrass  was  a  poor  defence  against 
the  cold  of  the  subjacent  rock.  I  bore  this  for  two 
hom-s,  unwilling  to  disturb  the  guides,  but  at 
length  it  became  intolerable.  On  learning  my 
condition,  however,  the  good  fellows  were  soon 
alert,  and,  folding  a  sheepskin  round  me,  restored 
me  gradually  to  a  pleasant  temperature.  I  fell 
asleep,  and  found  the  guides  preparing  breakfast, 


282  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1868 

and  the  morning  well  advanced,  when  I  opened  my 
eyes. 

It  was  past  six  o'clock  when  the  two  brothers 
and  I  quitted  the  cabin.  The  porters  deemed 
their  work  accomplished,  but  they  halted  for  a 
time  to  ascertain  whether  we  were  likely  to  be 
driven  back  or  to  push  forward.  We  skirted  the 
Cravate,  and  reached  the  ridge  at  its  western 
extremity.  This  we  ascended  along  the  old  route 
of  Bennen  and  myself  to  the  conical  peak  already 
referred  to,  which,  as  seen  from  Breuil,  constitutes 
a  kind  of  second  smnmit  of  the  Matterhorn.  From 
this  point  to  the  base  of  the  final  precipice  of  the 
mountain  stretches  an  arete,  terribly  hacked  by  the 
weather,  but  on  the  whole  horizontal.  When  I 
first  made  the  acquaintance  of  this  savage  ridge — 
called  by  Italians  the  Spalla — it  was  almost  clear  of 
snow.  It  was  now  loaded,  the  snow  being  bevelled 
to  an  edge  of  exceeding  sharpness.  The  slope  to 
the  left,  falling  towards  Zmutt,  was  exceedingly 
steep,  while  the  precipices  on  the  right  were  abysmal. 
No  other  part  of  the  Matterhorn  do  I  remember 
with  greater  interest  than  this.  It  was  terrible, 
but  its  difficulties  were  fairly  within  the  grasp  of 
hxmaan  skill,  and  this  association  is  more  ennobling 
than  where  the  circumstances  are  such  as  to  make 
you  conscious  of  your  own  helplessness.  On  one  of 
the  sharpest  teeth  of  the  ridge  Joseph  Maquignaa 


18C8]  TEE   MATTERHORN— THIRD    ASSAULT.  283 

halted,  and,  turning  to  me  with  a  smile,  remarked, 
'  There  is  no  room  for  giddiness  here,  sir.'  In  fact, 
such  possibilities,  in  such  places,  must  be  alto- 
gether excluded  from  the  chapter  of  accidents  of  the 
climber. 

It  was  at  the  end  of  this  ridge,  where  it  abuts 
against  the  last  precipice  of  the  Matterhorn,  that 
my  second  flagstaff  was  left  in  1862.  I  think  there 
must  have  been  something  in  the  light  falling  upon 
this  precipice  that  gave  it  an  aspect  of  greater 
verticality  when  I  first  saw  it  than  it  seemed  to 
possess  on  the  present  occasion.  We  had,  however, 
been  struggling  for  many  hours  previously,  and  may 
have  been  dazed  by  our  exertion.  I  cannot  other- 
wise account  for  three  of  my  party  declining  flatly 
to  make  any  attempt  upon  the  precipice.  It  looks 
very  bad,  but  no  real  climber  with  his  strength 
unimpaired  would  pronounce  it,  without  trial,  in- 
superable. Fears  of  this  rock-wall,  however,  had  been 
excited  long  before  we  reached  it.  It  was  probably 
the  addition  of  the  psychological  element  to  the 
physical — the  reluctance  to  encounter  new  dangers 
on  a  mountain  which  had  hitherto  inspired  a  super- 
stitious fear — that  quelled  further  exertion. 

Seven  hundred  feet,  if  the  barometic  measurement 
can  be  trusted,  of  very  difficult  rock-work  now  lay 
above  us.  In  1862  this  height  had  been  under- 
estimated  by   both    Bennen   and   myself.     Of    the 


284  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN   THE    ALPS.  [1868 

14,800  feet  of  the  Matterhorn,  we  then  thought  we 
had  accomplished  14,600.  If  the  barometer  speaks 
truly,  we  had  only  cleared  14,200. 

Descending  the  end  of  the  ridge,  we  crossed  a 
narrow  cleft,  and  grappled  with  the  rocks  at  the 
other  side  of  it.  Our  ascent  was  oblique,  bearing 
to  the  right.  The  obliquity  at  one  place  fell  to 
horizontality,  and  we  had  to  work  on  the  level 
round  a  difficult  protuberance  of  rock.  We  cleared 
the  difficulty  without  haste,  and  then  rose  straight 
against  the  precipice.  Above  us  a  rope  hung  do^vn 
the  cliff,  left  there  by  Maquignaz  on  the  occasion 
of  his  first  ascent.  We  reached  the  end  of  this  rope, 
and  some  time  was  lost  by  my  guide  in  assuring 
himself  that  it  was  not  too  much  frayed  by  friction. 
Care  in  testing  it  was  doubly  necessary,  for  the 
rocks,  bad  in  themselves,  were  here  crusted  with  ice. 
The  rope  was  in  some  places  a  mere  hempen  core 
surrounded  by  a  casing  of  ice,  over  which  the  hands 
slid  helplessly.  Even  with  the  aid  of  the  rope  in  this 
condition  it  required  an  effort  to  get  to  the  top  of 
the  precipice,  and  we  willingly  halted  there  to  take 
a  minute's  breath.  The  ascent  was  virtually  accom- 
plished, and  a  few  minutes  more  of  rapid  climbing 
placed  us  on  the  lightning-smitten  top.  Thus  ended 
the  long  contest  between  me  and  the  Matterhorn. 

The  day  thus  far  had  swung  through  alternations 
(>f  fog  and  sunshine.     While  we  were  on  the  ridge 


i868]  THE   MATTERHORN— THIRD    ASSAULT.  285 

below,  the  air  at  times  was  blank  and  chill  with 
mist ;  then  with  rapid  solution  the  cloud  would 
vanish,  and  open  up  the  abysses  right  and  left  of  us. 
On  our  attaining  the  summit  a  fog  from  Italy 
rolled  over  us,  and  for  some  minutes  we  were  clasped 
by  a  cold  and  clammy  atmosphere.  But  this  passed 
rapidly  away,  leaving  above  us  a  blue  heaven,  and 
far  below  us  the  sunny  meadows  of  Zermatt.  The 
mountains  were  almost  wholly  unclouded,  and  such 
clouds  as  lingered  amongst  them  only  added  to 
their  magnificence.  The  Dent  d'Erin,  the  Dent 
Blanche,  the  Grabelhorn,  the  Mischabel,  the  range 
of  heights  between  it  and  Monte  Eosa,  the  Lyskamm, 
and  the  Breithorn  were  all  at  hand,  and  clear ; 
while  the  Weisshom,  noblest  and  most  beautiful  of 
all,  shook  out  a  banner  towards  the  north,  formed 
by  the  humid  southern  air  as  it  grazed  the  crest  of 
the  mountain. 

The  world  of  peaks  and  glaciers  surrounding  this 
immediate  circlet  of  giants  was  also  open  to  us  up 
to  the  horizon.  Our  glance  over  it  was  brief,  for  it 
was  eleven  o'clock,  and  the  work  before  us  soon 
claimed  all  our  attention.  I  found  the  debris  of 
my  former  expedition  everywhere  —  below,  the 
fragments  of  my  tents,  and  on  the  top  a  piece  of 
my  ladder  fixed  in  the  snow  as  a  flagstaff.  The 
summit  of  the  Matterhorn  is  a  sharp  horizontal 
arete,  and  along  this  we  now  moved  eastward.     On 


286  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN    THE    ALPS.  [1868 

our  left  was  the  roof-like  slope  of  snow  seen  from 
the  Riflfel  and  Zermatt ;  on  our  right  were  the 
savage  precipices  which  fall  into  Italy.  Looking  to 
the  further  end  of  the  ridge,  the  snow  there  seemed 
to  be  trodden  down,  and  I  drew  my  companions' 
attention  to  the  apparent  footmarks.  As  we  ap- 
proached the  place  it  became  evident  that  human 
feet  had  been  there  two  or  three  days  previously. 
I  think  it  was  Mr.  Elliot  of  Brighton^  who  had 
made  this  ascent — the  first  accomplished  from 
Zermatt  since  1865.  On  the  eastern  end  of  the 
ridge  we  halted  to  take  a  little  food — not  that  I 
seemed  to  need  it :  it  was  the  remonstrance  of 
reason  rather  than  the  consciousness  of  physical 
want  that  caused  me  to  do  so. 

We  took  our  ounce  of  nutriment  and  gulp  of 
wine  (my  only  sustenance  during  the  entire  day), 
and  stood  for  a  moment  silently  and  earnestly 
looking  down  towards  Zermatt.  There  was  a  cer- 
tain official  formality  in  the  manner  in  which  the 
guides  turned  to  me  and  asked,  '  Etes-vous  content 
d'essayer  ? '  A  sharp  responsive  '  Oui  I '  set  us  im- 
mediately in  motion.  It  was  nearly  half-past  eleven 
when  we  quitted  the  summit.  The  descent  of  the 
roof-like  slope  already  referred  to  offered  no  diffi- 
culty; but  the  gradient  very  soon  became  more 
formidable. 

•  Killed  in  1869  npon  the  Schreckhorn. 


1868]  THE    MATTERHORN— THIRD    ASSAULT.  287 

One  of  the  two  faces  of  the  Matterhorn  pyramid, 
seen  from  Zermatt,  falls  towards  the  Zmutt  glacier, 
and  has  a  well-known  snow-plateau  at  its  base.  The 
other  face  falls  towards  the  Furgge  glacier.  We  were 
on  the  former.  For  some  time,  however,  we  kept 
close  to  the  arete  formed  by  the  intersection  of  the 
twofacesof  the  pyramid,  because  nodules  of  rock  jutted 
from  it  which  offered  a  kind  of  footing.  These  rock 
protuberances  helped  us  in  another  way  :  round  them 
an  extra  rope  which  we  carried  was  frequently  doubled, 
and  we  let  ourselves  down  by  the  rope  as  far  as  it 
could  reach,  liberating  it  aftei-wards  (sometimes  with 
difficulty)  by  a  succession  of  jerks.  In  the  choice 
and  use  of  these  protuberances  the  guides  showed  both 
judgment  and  skill.  The  rocks  became  gradually 
larger  and  more  precipitous,  a  good  deal  of  time 
being  consumed  in  dropping  down  and  doubling  round 
them.  Still  we  preferred  them  to  the  snow-slope  at 
our  left  as  long  as  they  continued  practicable. 

This  they  at  length  ceased  to  be,  and  we  had  to 
commit  ourselves  to  the  slope.  It  was  in  the  worst 
possible  condition.  When  snow  first  falls  at  these 
great  heights  it  is  usually  dry,  and  has  no  coherence. 
It  resembles,  to  some  extent,  flour,  or  sand,  or  saw- 
dust. Shone  upon  by  a  strong  sun  it  partly  melts, 
shrinks,  and  becomes  more  consolidated,  and  when 
subsequently  frozen  it  may  be  safely  trusted.  Even 
though  the  melting  of  the  snow  and  its  subsequent 


288  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1868 

freezing  may  be  only  very  partial,  the  cementing  of 
tlie  granules  adds  immensely  to  the  safety  of  the 
footing.  Hence  the  advantage  of  descending  such  a 
slope  before  the  sun  has  had  time  to  unlock  the 
rigidity  of  the  night's  frost.  But  we  were  on  the 
steepest  Matterhorn  slope  during  the  two  hottest 
Hours  of  the  day,  and  the  sun  had  done  his  work 
effectually.  The  layer  of  snow  was  about  fifteen 
inches  thick.  In  treading  it  we  came  immediately 
upon  the  rock,  which  in  most  cases  was  too 
smooth  to  furnish  either  prop  or  purchase.  It  was 
on  this  slope  that  the  Matterhorn  catastrophe  oc- 
curred: it  is  on  this  slope  that  other  catastrophes 
will  occur,  if  this  moimtain  should  ever  become 
fashionable. 

Joseph  Maquignaz  was  the  leader  of  our  little 
party,  and  a  brave,  cool,  and  competent  leader  he 
proved  himself  to  be.  He  was  silent,  save  when  he 
answered  his  brother's  anxious  and  oft-repeated 
question,  '  Es-tu  bien  place,  Joseph  ?  '  Along  with 
being  perfectly  cool  and  brave,  he  seemed  to  be 
perfectly  truthful.  He  did  not  pretend  to  be  '  bien 
place'  when  he  was  not,  nor  avow  a  power  of  hold- 
ing which  he  knew  he  did  not  possess.  Pierre 
jMaquignaz  is,  I  believe,  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances, an  excellent  guide,  and  he  enjoys  tlie 
reputation  of  being  never  tired.  But  in  such  cir- 
cumstances as  we  encountered  on  the  Matterhorn  he 


THE    MATTERHOim— THIRD    ASSAULT.  289 

is  not  the  equal  of  his  brother.  Joseph,  if  I  may 
use  the  term,  is  a  man  of  high  boiling  point,  his 
constitutional  sangfroid  resisting  the  ebullition  of 
fear.  Pierre,  on  the  contrary,  shows  a  strong  ten- 
dency to  boil  over  in  perilous  places. 

Our  progress  was  exceedingly  slow,  but  it  was 
steady  and  continued.  At  every  step  om-  leader 
trod  the  snow  cautiously,  seeking  some  rugosity 
on  the  rock  beneath  it.  This  however  was  rarely 
found,  and  in  most  cases  he  had  to  establish  a  me- 
chanical attachment  between  the  snow  and  the  slope 
which  bore  it.  No  semblance  of  a  slip  occurred  in 
the  case  of  any  one  of  us,  and  had  it  occurred  I 
do  not  think  the  worst  consequences  could  have 
been  avoided.  I  wish  to  stamp  this  slope  of  the 
Matterhorn  with  the  character  that  really  belonged 
to  it  when  I  descended  it,  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to 
say  that  the  giving  way  of  any  one  of  our  party 
would  have  carried  the  whole  of  us  to  ruin.  Why, 
then,  it  may  be  asked  employ  the  rope  ?  The  rope, 
I  reply,  notwithstanding  all  its  possible  drawbacks 
under  such  circumstances,  is  the  safeguard  of  the 
climber.  Not  to  speak  of  the  moral  effect  of  its 
presence,  an  amount  of  help  upon  a  dangerous  slope 
that  might  be  measured  by  the  gravity  of  a  few 
pounds  is  often  of  incalculable  importance ;  and 
thus,  though  the  rope  may  be  not  only  useless  but 
disastrous  if  the  footing   be  clearly  lost,   and  the 


290  HOURS    OF    EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [186E 

glissade  fairly  begun,  it  lessens  immensely  the  chance 
of  this  occurrence. 

With  steady  perseverance,  difficulties  upon  a 
mountain,  as  elsewhere,  come  to  an  end.  We  were 
finally  able  to  pass  from  the  face  of  the  pyramid  to 
its  rugged  edge,  where  it  was  a  great  relief  to  feel 
that  honest  strength  and  fair  skill,  which  might 
have  gone  for  little  on  the  slope,  were  masters  of 
the  situation. 

Standing  on  the  arete,  at  the  foot  of  a  remarkable 
cliff-gable  seen  from  Zermatt,  and  permitting  the 
vision  to  range  over  the  Matterhom,  its  appearance 
is  exceedingly  wild  and  impressive.  Hardly  two 
things  can  be  more  different  than  the  two  aspects  of 
the  mountain  from  above  and  below.  Seen  from 
the  Eiffel,  or  Zermatt,  it  presents  itself  as  a  com- 
pact pyramid,  smooth  and  steep,  and  defiant  of  the 
weathering  air.  From  above,  it  seems  torn  to 
pieces  by  the  frosts  of  ages,  while  its  vast  facettes 
are  so  foreshortened  as  to  stretch  out  into  the 
distance  like  plains.  But  this  underestimate  of  the 
steepness  of  the  mountain  is  checked  by  the  deport- 
ment of  its  stones.  Their  discharge  along  the  side  of 
the  pyramid  to-day  was  incessant,  and  at  any  moment, 
by  detaching  a  single  boulder,  we  could  let  loose 
a  cataract  of  them,  which  flew  with  wald  rapidity 
and  with  a  thunderous  clatter  down  the  mountain. 
We  once  wandered  too  far  from  the  aretCf  and  were 


1868]  THE    MATTERHORN— THIRD    ASSAULT.  291 

warned  back  to  it  by  a  train  of  these  missiles  sweep- 
ing past  us. 

As  long  as  our  planet  yields  less  heat  to  space 
than  she  receives  from  the  bodies  of  space,  so  long 
will  the  forms  upon  her  surface  undergo  mutation, 
and  as  soon  as  equilibruim,  in  regard  to  heat,  has 
been  established  we  shall  have,  as  Thomson  has 
pointed  out,  not  peace,  but  death.  Life  is  the  pro- 
duct and  accompaniment  of  change,  and  the  self- 
same power  that  tears  the  flanks  of  the  hills  to  pieces 
is  the  mainspring  of  the  animal  and  vegetable  worlds. 
Still,  there  is  something  chilling  in  the  contempla- 
tion of  the  irresistible  and  remorseless  character  of 
those  infinitesimal  forces,  whose  integration  through 
the  ages  pulls  down  even  the  Matterhorn.  Hacked 
and  hurt  by  time,  the  aspect  of  the  mountain  from 
its  higher  crags  saddened  me.  Hitherto  the  impres- 
sion that  it  made  was  that  of  savage  strength,  but 
here  we  had  inexorable  decay. 

This  notion  of  decay,  however,  implied  a  reference 
to  a  period  when  the  Matterhorn  was  in  the  full 
strength  of  mountainhood.  My  thoughts  naturally 
ran  back  to  its  possible  growth  and  origin.  Nor 
did  they  halt  there,  but  wandered  on  through  molten 
worlds  to  that  nebulous  haze  which  philosophers  have 
regarded,  and  with  good  reason,  as  the  proximate 
eom-ce  of  all  material  things.  I  tried  to  look  at 
this   universal    cloud,  containing  within  itself  the 


292  HODKS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1868 

prediction  of  all  that  has  since  occurred ;  I  tried  to 
imagine  it  as  the  seat  of  those  forces  whose  action 
was  to  issue  in  solar  and  stellar  systems,  and  all 
that  they  involve.  Did  that  formless  fog  contain 
potentially  the  sadness  with  which  I  regarded  the 
Matterhom  ?  Did  the  thought  which  now  ran  back 
to  it  simply  return  to  its  primeval  home  ?  If  so, 
had  we  not  better  recast  our  definitions  of  matter 
and  force  ?  for  if  life  and  thought  be  the  very  flower 
of  both,  any  definition  which  omits  life  and  thought 
must  be  inadequate,  if  not  untrue. 

Questions  like  these,  useless  as  they  seem,  may 
still  have  a  practical  outcome.  For  if  the  final  goal 
of  man  has  not  been  yet  attained,  if  his  development 
has  not  been  yet  arrested,  who  can  say  that  such 
yearnings  and  questionings  are  not  necessary  to  the 
opening  of  a  finer  vision,  to  the  budding  and  the 
growth  of  diviner  powers  ?  Without  this  upward 
force  could  man  have  risen  to  his  present  height  ? 
When  I  look  at  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  at  my 
own  body,  at  my  strength  and  weakness  of  mind, 
even  at  these  ponderings,  and  ask  myself.  Is  there 
no  being  or  thing  in  the  universe  that  knows  more 
about  these  matters  than  I  do  ? — what  is  my  an- 
swer ?  Supposing  our  theologic  schemes  of  creation, 
condemnation,  and  redemption  to  be  dissipated ; 
and  the  warmth  of  denial  which  they  excite,  and 
wliich,  as  a  motive  force,  can  match  the  warmth  of 


1363]  THE   MATTERHORN— THIRD    ASSAULT.  293 

tffirmation,  dissipated  at  the  same  time ;  would  the 
undeflected  human  mind  return  to  the  meridian  of 
absolute  neutrality  as  regards  these  ultra-physical 
questions  ?  Is  such  a  position  one  of  stable  equi- 
librium ?  Such  are  the  questions,  without  replies, 
which  could  run  through  consciousness  during  a 
ten  minutes'  halt  upon  the  weathered  spire  of  the 
Matterhorn. 

We  shook  the  rope  away  from  us,  and  went 
rapidly  down  the  rocks.  The  day  was  well  advanced 
when  we  reached  the  cabin,  and  between  it  and  the 
base  of  the  pyramid  we  missed  our  way.  It  was  late 
when  we  regained  it,  and  by  the  time  we  reached  the 
ridge  of  the  Hornli  we  were  unable  to  distinguish 
rock  from  ice.  We  should  have  fared  better  than 
we  did  if  we  had  kept  along  the  ridge  and  felt  our 
way  to  the  Schwarz  See,  whence  there  would  have 
been  no  difficulty  in  reaching  Zermatt,  but  we  left 
fihe  Hornli  to  our  right,  and  found  ourselves  inces- 
santly checked  in  the  darkness  by  ledges  and  preci- 
Dices,  possible  and  actual.  We  were  afterwards 
entangled  in  the  woods  of  Zmutt,  carving  our  way 
wearily  through  bush  and  bramble,  and  creeping 
at  times  along  dry  and  precipitous  stream-beds. 
But  we  finally  struck  the  path  and  followed  it  to 
Zermatt,  which  we  reached  between  one  and  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning. 

Having  work  to  do  for  tlie  Norwich  meeting  of 


294  HOURS    OF    EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1868 

the  Britisli  Association,  I  remained  several  days  at 
the  Riffel,  taking  occasional  breathings  with  plea- 
sant companions  upon  the  EifFelhorn.  I  subse- 
quently crossed  the  Weissthor  with  Mr.  Paris  to 
Mattmark,  and  immediately  afterwards  returned  to 
England. 

On  the  4th  of  September,  Signer  Giordano,  to 
whom  we  are  indebted  for  a  very  complete  geological 
section  of  the  Matterhom,  with  Joseph  Maquignaz 
and  Carrel  as  guides,  followed  my  route  over  the 
mountain.  In  a  letter  dated  Florence,  December 
31, 1868,  he  writes  to  me  thus : 

'  Quant  a  moi,  je  dirai  que  vraiment,  j'ai  trouve 
cette  fois  le  pic  assez  difficile.  .  .  .  J'ai  surtout 
trouve  difficile  la  traversee  de  I'arete  qui  suit  le 
pic  Tyndall  du  cote  ds  I'ltalie.  Quant  au  versant 
Suisse,  je  I'ai  trouve  moins  difficile  que  je  ne  croyais, 
parce  que  la  neige  y  etait  un  peu  consolidee  par  la 
chaleur.  En  descendant  le  pic  du  cote  de  Zermatt 
j'ai  encouru  un  veritable  danger  par  les  avalanches 

de  pierres Un  de  mes  deux  guides  a  eu  le 

havresac  coupe  en  deux  par  un  bloc,  et  moi-meme 
j'ai  ete  un  peu  contusionne.' 


1869""  ASCEXT    OF   THE    ALETSCHHORN.  295 


XXV. 

ASCENT  OF  THE   ALETSCHIIOEN. 

The  failure  through  bad  weather  of  a  former 
attempt  upon  the  Aletschhom  has  been  already 
recorded ;  but  a  succession  of  cloudless  days  at  the 
Bel  Alp  in  August  1869  stirred  up  the  desire  to  try 
again.  This  was  strengthened  by  the  wish  to  make 
a  series  of  observations  from  the  greatest  accessible 
elevation  on  the  colour  and  polarisation  of  the  sky. 
I  had  no  guide  of  my  own,  but  the  Knecht  at  the 
hotel  had  been  up  the  mountain,  and  I  thought  that 
we  two  might  accomplish  the  ascent  without  any  other 
assistance.  It  was  the  first  time  the  mountain  had 
been  attempted  by  a  single  guide,  and  I  was  there- 
fore careful  to  learn  whether  he  was  embarrassed  by 
either  doubt  or  fear.  There  was  no  doubt  or  fear 
in  the  matter  :  he  really  wished  to  go  with  me.  His 
master  (the  proprietor  of  the  hotel)  had  asked  him 
whether  he  was  not  undertaking  too  much.  '  I  am 
undertaking  no  more  than  my  companion,'  was  his 
reply. 

At  twenty  minutes  past  two  we  quitted  the  Bel 


296  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE    ALPS.  [1869 

Alp.  The  moon,  which  seven  hours  previously  had 
cleared  the  eastern  mountain-tops  with  a  visible 
motion,  was  now  sloping  to  the  west.  The  light  was 
white  and  brilliant,  and  shadows  of  corresponding 
darkness  were  cast  upon  the  earth.  The  larger  stars 
were  out,  those  near  the  horizon  especially  sparkling 
with  many-coloured  fires.  The  Pleiades  were  near 
the  zenith,  while  Orion  hung  his  sword  a  few  degrees 
above  the  eastern  horizon.  Our  path  lay  along  the 
slope  of  the  mountain,  parallel  to  the  Oberaletsch 
glacier,  the  lateral  moraine  of  which  was  close  to  us 
on  our  right.  After  climbing  sundry  grass  acclivities 
we  mounted  this  moraine,  and  made  it  our  pathway 
for  a  time.  At  a  certain  point  the  shingly  ridge 
became  depressed,  opening  a  natural  passage  to  the 
glacier.  We  found  the  ice  '  hummocky,'  and  there- 
fore crossed  it  to  a  medial  moraine  composed  of 
granite  debris  and  loaded  here  and  there  with  clean 
granite  blocks  of  enormous  size.  Beyond  this 
moraine  we  found  smoother  ice  and  better  light,  for 
we  had  previously  journeyed  in  the  shadow  of  the 
mountains. 

We  marched  upwards  along  the  glacier  chatting 
sociably  at  times,  but  at  times  stilled  into  silence  by 
the  stillness  of  the  niglit.  '  Es  tagt ! '  at  length 
exclaimed  my  companion.  It  dawns  !  Orion  had 
moved  upwards,  leaving  space  between  him  and  the 
horizon   for   the    morning:  star.     All   the   east  was 


.869]  ASCENT    OF   THE    ALETSCHHOKN.  297 

belted  by  that  '  daflfodil  sky '  which  in  some  states 
of  the  atmosphere  announces  the  approach  of  day  in 
the  Alps.  We  spun  towards  the  east.  It  brightened 
and  deepened,  but  deeper  than  the  orange  of  the 
spectrum  it  did  not  fall.  Amid  this  the  mountains 
rose.  Silently  and  solemnly  their  dark  and  dented 
outlines  rested  against  the  dawn. 

The  mass  of  light  thus  thrown  over  the  shaded 
earth  long  before  the  sun  appeared  above  the  horizon 
came  not  from  illuminated  clouds,  but  from  matter 
far  more  attenuated  than  clouds — matter  which  main- 
tains comparative  permanence  in  the  atmosphere, 
while  clouds  are  formed  and  dissipated.  It  is  not 
light  reflected  from  concentric  shells  of  air  of  varying 
density,  of  which  our  atmosphere  may  be  rightly 
assumed  to  be  made  up  ;  for  the  light  reflected  from 
these  convex  layers  is  thrown,  not  upon  the  earth  at 
all,  but  into  space.  The  '  rose  of  dawn '  is  usually 
ascribed,  and  with  suflicient  correctness,  to  trans- 
mitted light,  the  blue  of  the  sky  to  reflected  light ; 
but  in  each  case  there  is  both  transmission  and 
reflection.  No  doubt  the  dafibdil  and  orange  of 
the  east  this  morning  must  have  been  transmitted 
through  long  reaches  of  atmospheric  air,  and  no 
doubt  it  was  during  this  passage  of  the  rays  that  the 
selective  winnowing  of  the  light  occurred  which  gave 
the  sky  its  tint  and  splendour.  But  if  the  distance 
of  the  sun  below  the  horizon  when  the  dawn  first 


298  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN   THE   ALPS.  [1869 

appeared  betaken  into  account,  it  will  become  evident 
that  the  solar  rays  must  have  been  caused  to  swerve 
from  their  rectilineal  course  by  reflection.  The 
refraction  of  the  atmosphere  would  be  wholly  in- 
competent to  bend  the  rays  round  the  convex  earth 
to  the  extent  now  under  contemplation. 

Thus  the  light  which  is  reflected  must  be  first 
transmitted  to  the  reflecting  particles,  while  the 
transmitted  light,  except  in  the  direct  line  of  the 
sun,  must  be  reflected  to  reach  the  eyes.  What 
mainly  holds  the  light  in  our  atmosphere  after  the 
sun  has  retired  behind  the  earth  is,  I  imagine,  the 
suspended  matter  which  produces  the  blue  of  the 
sky  and  the  morning  and  the  evening  red.  Through 
the  reverberation  of  the  rays  from  particle  to  particle, 
there  must  be  at  the  very  noon  of  night  a  certain 
amount  of  illumination.  Twilight  must  continue 
with  varying  degrees  of  intensity  all  night  long,  and 
the  visibility  of  the  nocturnal  firmament  itself  may 
be  due,  not,  as  my  excellent  friend  Dove  seems 
to  assume,  to  the  light  of  the  stars,  but  in  great  part 
to  the  light  of  the  sun,  scattered  in  all  directions 
through  the  atmosphere  by  the  almost  infinitely 
attenuated  matter  held  there  in  suspension. 

We  had  every  prospect  of  a  glorious  day.  To  our 
left  was  the  almost  full  moon,  now  close  to  the 
ridge  of  the  Sparrenhorn.  The  firmament  was  as 
blue  as  ever  I  have  seen  it — deep  and  dark,  and  U\ 


1869]  ASCENT   OF   THE    ALETSCHHORN.  299 

all  appearance  jpure ;  that  is  to  say,  unmixed  with 
any  colour  of  a  lower  grade  of  refrangibility  than 
the  blue.  The  limar  shadows  had  already  become 
weak,  and  were  finally  washed  away  by  the  light  of 
the  east.  But  while  the  shadows  were  at  their 
greatest  depth,  and  therefore  least  invaded  by  the 
dawn,  I  examined  the  firmament  with  a  Nicol's  prism.' 
The  moonlight,  as  I  have  said,  came  from  the  left, 
and  right  in  front  of  me  was  a  mountain  of  dark 
brown  rock,  behind  which  spread  a  heaven  of  the 
most  impressive  depth  and  purity.  I  looked  over 
the  mountain-crest  through  the  prism.  In  one 
position  of  the  instrument  the  blue  was  not  sensibly 
affected ;  in  the  rectangular  position  it  was  so  far 
quenched  as  to  reduce  the  sky  and  the  dark  moun- 
tain beneath  it  to  the  same  uniform  hue.  The 
outline  of  the  mountain  could  hardly  be  detached 
from  the  sky  above  it.  This  was  the  direction  in 
which  the  prism  showed  its  maximum  quenching 
power ;  in  no  other  direction  was  the  extinction  of 
the  light  of  the  sky  so  perfect.  And  it  was  at  right 
angles  to  the  lunar  rays :  so  that,  as  regards  the 
polarisation  of  the  sky,  the  beams  of  the  moon 
behave  exactly  like  those  of  the  sun. 

The  glacier  along  which  we  first  marched  was   a 
trunk  of  many  tributaries,  and  consequently  of  many 
''  medial  moraines,'  such  moraines  being  always  OTie 
'  Art.  X.  of  'Fragments  of  Science '  is  devoted  to  the  sky. 


300  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1869 

less  in  number  than  the  tributaries.'  But  two 
principal  branches  absorbed  all  the  others  as  con- 
stituents. One  of  these  descended  from  the  Great 
and  Little  Nesthorn  and  their  spurs ;  the  other 
from  the  Aletschhorn.  Up  this  latter  branch  we 
steered  from  the  junction.  Hitherto  the  surface  of 
the  glacier,  disintegrated  by  the  previous  day's  sun, 
and  again  hardened  by  the  night's  frost,  had  crackled 
under  our  feet ;  but  on  the  Aletschhorn  branch  the 
ice  was  coated  by  a  kind  of  fur,  resembling  the  nap 
of  velvet:  it  was  as  soft  as  a  carpet,  but  at  the 
same  time  perfectly  firm  to  the  grip  of  the  boot. 
The  sun  was  hidden  behind  the  mountain ;  and, 
thus  steeped  in  shade,  we  could  enjoy,  with  spirits 
unblunted  by  the  heat,  the  loveliness  and  grandeur 
of  the  scene. 

Right  before  us  was  the  pyramid  of  the  Aletsch- 
horn, bearing  its  load  of  glaciers,  and  thrusting 
above  them  its  pinnacle  of  rock ;  while  right  and 
left  of  us  towered  and  fell  to  snowy  cols  such  other 
peaks  as  usually  hang-  about  a  mountain  of  nearly 
14,000  feet  elevation.  And  amid  them  all,  with  a 
calmness  corresponding  to  the  deep  seclusion  of  the 
place,  wound  the  beautiful  system  of  glaciers  along 
which  we  had  been  marching  for  nearly  three  hours. 
I  know  nothing  which  can  compare  in  point  of 
glory  with  these  winter  palaces  of  the  mountaineer, 
under  the  opening  illumination  of  the  morning. 
'  'Glaciers  of  tho  Alps/  p.  2CA. 


.869]  ASCENT    OF   THE    ALETSCHHOBN.  301 

And  the  best  of  it  is,  that  no  right  of  property  in 
the  scene  could  enhance  its  value.  To  Switzerland 
belongs  the  rock — to  the  early  climber,  competent 
to  enjoy  them,  belong  the  sublimity  and  beauty 
of  mass,  form,  colour,  and  grouping.  And  still  the 
outward  splendour  is  by  no  means  all.  'In  the 
midst  of  a  puddly  moor,'  says  Emerson, '  I  am  afraid 
to  say  how  glad  I  am : '  which  is  a  strong  way  of 
affirming  the  influence  of  the  inner  man  as  regards 
the  enjoyment  of  external  nature.  And  surely  the 
inner  man  is  a  high  factor  in  the  effect.  The  mag- 
nificence of  the  world  outside  suffices  not.  Like 
light  falling  upon  the  polished  plate  of  the  photo- 
grapher, the  glory  of  Nature,  to  be  felt,  must 
descend  upon  a  soul  prepared  to  receive  its  image 
and  superscription. 

Mind,  like  force,  is  known  to  us  only  through 
matter.  Take,  then,  what  hypothesis  you  will — 
consider  matter  as  an  instrument  through  which  the 
insulated  mind  exercises  its  powers,  or  consider 
both  as  so  inextricably  mixed  that  they  stand  or 
fall  together  ;  from  both  points  of  view  the  care  of 
the  body  is  equally  important.^  The  morality  of 
clean  blood  ought  to  be  one  of  the  first  lessons 
taught  us  by  our  pastors  and  masters.  The  physical 
is  the  substratum  of  tlie  spiritual,  and  this  fact  ought 

'  It  •will  not  be  supposed  that  I  hero  mean  the  stuffing  or  pam- 
pering of  the  body.     The  shortening  of  the  supplies,   or  a   good 
monkish  fast  at  intervals,  is  often  the  best  discipline  for  the  body. 
14 


302  HOURS    OF   EXERCISE   IN   THK    ALPS.  [1869 

to  give  the  food  we  eat  and  to  the  air  we  breathe 
a  transcendental  significance.  Boldly  and  truly 
writes  Mr.  Ruskin,  '  Whenever  you  throw  your 
window  wide  open  in  the  morning,  you  let  in 
Athena,  as  wisdom  and  fresh  air  at  the  same  instant ; 
and  whenever  you  draw  a  pure,  long,  full  breath  of 
right  heaven,  you  take  Athena  into  your  heart,  through 
your  blood ;  and  with  the  blood  into  thoughts  of 
the  brain.'  No  higher  value  than  this  could  be 
assigned  to  atmospheric  oxygen. 

Precisely  three  hours  after  we  had  quitted  our 
hotel  the  uniform  gradient  of  the  Aletschhorn  glacier 
came  to  an  end.  It  now  suddenly  steepened  to  run 
up  the  mountain.  At  the  base  we  halted  to  have 
some  food,  a  huge  slab  of  granite  serving  us  for  a 
table.  It  is  not  good  to  go  altogether  without  food 
in  these  climbing  expeditions ;  nor  is  it  good  to  cat 
copiously.  Here  a  little  and  there  a  little,  as  the 
need  makes  itself  apparent,  is  the  prudent  course. 
For,  left  to  itself,  the  stomach  infallibly  sickens,  and 
the  forces  of  the  system  ooze  away.  Should  the 
sickness  have  set  in  so  as  to  produce  a  recoil  from 
nutriment,  the  stomach  must  be  forced  to  yield. 
A  small  modicum  of  food  usually  suffices  to  set 
it  right.  The  strongest  guides  and  the  sturdiest 
porters  have  sometimes  to  use  this  compulsion. 
'  Sie  miissen  sich  zwingen.'  The  guides  refer 
the  capriciousness  of  the  stomach  at   great   eleva* 


1869]  ASCENT    OF   THE    ALETSCHHORN.  303 

tions  to  the  air.  This  may  be  a  cause,  but  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  something  is  also  due  to  the 
motion — the  long-continued  action  of  the  same 
muscles  upon  the  diaphragm.  The  condition  of 
things  antecedent  to  the  journey  must  also  be  taken 
into  account.  There  is  little,  if  any,  sleep ;  the 
starting  meal  is  taken  at  an  unusual  hour ;  and  if 
the  start  be  made  from  a  mountain  cave  or  cabin, 
instead  of  from  the  bed  of  an  hotel,  the  deviation 
from  normal  conditions  is  aggravated.  It  could  not 
be  the  mere  difference  of  height  between  Mont 
Blanc  and  Monte  Eosa  which  formerly  rendered 
their  effects  upon  travellers  so  different.  It  is  that, 
r  in  the  one  case,  you  had  the  melted  snow  of  the 
Grands  Mulcts  for  your  coffee,  and  a  bare  plank  for 
your  bed ;  while  in  the  other  you  had  the  compara- 
tive comforts  of  the  auberge  on  the  Eiffel.  On  the 
present  occasion  I  had  a  bottle  of  milk,  which  suits 
me  better  than  anything  else.  That  and  a  crust  are 
all  I  need  to  keep  my  vigour  up  and  to  ward  off 
le  mal  des  montagnes. 

After  half  an  hour's  halt  we  made  ready  for  the 
peak,  meeting  first  a  quantity  of  moraine  matter 
mingled  with  patches  of  snow,  and  afterwards  the 
rifted  glacier.  We  threaded  our  way  among  the 
crevasses,  and  here  I  paid  particular  attention  to  the 
deportment  of  my  guide.  The  want  of  confidence, 
or  rather  the  absence  of  that  experience  of  a  guidti's 


304  nODRS    OF   EXEBCISE   IN   THE    ALPS.  [1869 

powers,  on  which  alone  perfect  reliance  can  be  based, 
is  a  serious  drawback  to  the  climber.  This  source  of 
weakness  has  often  come  home  to  me  since  the  deatli 
of  my  brave  friend  Bennen.  His  loss  to  me  was  like 
that  of  an  arm  to  a  fighter.  But  I  was  glad  to 
notice  that  my  present  guide  was  not  likely  to  err 
on  the  score  of  rashness.  He  left  a  wider  margin 
between  us  and  accident  than  I  should  have  deemed 
necessary  ;  he  sounded  with  his  staff  where  I  should 
have  trod  without  hesitation  ;  and,  knowing  my  own 
caution,  I  had  good  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  his. 
Still,  notwithstanding  all  his  vigilance,  he  once 
went  into  a  concealed  fissure — only  waist-deep,  how- 
ever, and  he  could  certainly  have  rescued  himself 
without  the  tug  of  the  rope  which  united  us. 

After  some  time  we  quitted  the  ice,  striking 
a  rocky  shoulder  of  the  mountain.  The  rock  had 
been  pulled  to  pieces  by  the  weather,  and  its 
fragments  heaped  together  to  an  incoherent  ridge. 
Over  the  lichened  stones  we  worked  our  way, 
our  course,  though  rough,  being  entirely  free  from 
danger.  On  tliis  ridge  the  sun  first  found  us, 
striking  us  at  intervals,  and  at  intervals  disappearing 
behind  the  sloping  ridge  of  the  Aletschhorn.  We 
attained  the  summit  of  the  rocks,  and  had  now 
the  upper  reaches  of  the  neve  before  us.  To  our 
left  the  glacier  was  greatly  torn,  exposing  fine 
vertical  sections,  deep  blue  pits  and  chasms,  wliicli 


1869]  ASCENT    OF    THE    ALETSCEHORN.  305 

were  bottomless  to  vision ;  and  ledges,  from  wliose 
copings  hung  vaster  stalactites  than  those  observed 
below.  The  beauty  of  the  higher  crevasses  is 
mightily  enhanced  by  the  long  transparent  icicles 
which  hang  from  their  eaves,  and  which,  loosened 
by  the  sun,  fall  into  them  with  ringing  sound. 
Above  us  was  the  customary  Bergschrund ;  but  the 
spring  avalanches  had  swept  over  it,  and  closed  it, 
and  since  the  spring  it  had  not  been  able  to  open 
its  jaws.  At  this  sclirund  we  aimed,  reached  it,  and 
crossed  it,  and  immediately  found  ourselves  at  the 
base  of  the  final  cap  of  the  mountain. 

Looking  at  the  Aletschhorn  from  the  Sparrenhom, 
or  from  any  other  point  which  commands  a  similar 
view  of  the  pyramid,  we  see  upon  the  ridge  which 
falls  from  the  summit  to  the  right,  and  at  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  the  top,  a  tooth  or  pinnacle  of 
rock,  which  encloses  with  the  ridge  a  deep  indenta- 
tion. At  this  gap  we  now  aimed.  We  varied  our 
ascent  from  steep  snow  to  rock,  and  from  steep  rock 
to  snow,  avoiding  the  difficulties  when  possible,  and 
facing  them  when  necessary.  We  met  some  awkward 
places,  but  none  whose  subjugation  was  otherwise  than 
pleasant,  and  at  length  surmounted  the  edge  of  the 
arete.  Looking  over  this,  the  facette  of  the  pyramid 
fell  almost  sheer  to  the  Middle  Aletsch  glacier.  This 
was  a  familiar  sight  to  me,  for  years  ago  I  had 
strolled  over   it   alone.     Below   it  was   the   Great 


806  HOUllS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE    ALPS.  [1868 

Aletsch,  into  which  the  Middle  Aletsch  flows,  and 
beyond  both  was  the  well-known  ridge  of  the  ^Eggisch- 
hom.  We  halted,  but  only  for  a  moment.  Turn- 
ing suddenly  to  the  left,  we  ascended  the  rocky  ridge 
to  a  sheltered  nook  which  suggested  a  brief  rest  and 
a  slight  renewal  of  that  nutriment  which,  as  stated, 
is  so  necessary  to  the  wellbeing  of  the  climber. 

From  time  to  time  during  the  ascent  I  examined 
the  polarisation  of  the  sky.  I  should  not  have  halted 
had  not  the  fear  of  haze  or  clouds  upon  the  summit 
admonished  me.  Indeed,  as  we  ascended,  one  thin, 
arrowy  cloud  shot  like  a  comet's  tail  through  the  air 
above  us,  spanning  ninety  degrees,  or  more,  of  the 
heavens.  Never,  however,  have  I  observed  the  sky 
of  a  deeper,  darker,  and  purer  blue.  It  was  to  ex- 
amine this  colour  that  I  ascended  the  Aletschhom, 
and  I  wished  to  observe  it  where  the  hue  was  deepest 
and  the  polarisation  most  complete.  You  can  look 
through  very  dififerent  atmospheric  thicknesses  at 
right  angles  to  the  solar  beams.  When,  for  example, 
the  sun  is  in  the  eastern  or  western  horizon,  you 
can  look  across  the  sun's  rays  towards  the  northern 
or  southern  horizon,  or  you  can  look  across  them  to 
the  zenith.  In  the  latter  direction  the  blue  is  deeper 
and  purer  than  in  either  of  the  former,  the  propor- 
tion of  the  polarised  light  of  the  sky  to  its  total  light 
being  also  a  maximum. 

The  sun,  however,  when  I  was  on  the  Aletschhom, 


i8f)9]  ASCEKT   OF   THE    ALETSCHHORN.  307 

was  not  in  the  horizon,  but  high  above  it.  I 
placed  my  staff  upright  on  a  platform  of  snow. 
It  cast  a  shadow.  Inclining  the  staff  froTn  the 
sun,  the  shadow  lengthened  for  a  time,  reached  its 
major  limit,  and  then  shortened.  The  simplest 
geometrical  consideration  will  show  that  the  staff 
when  its  shadow  was  longest  was  perpendicular  to 
the  solar  rays ;  the  atmosphere  in  this  direction  was 
shallower  and  the  sky  bluer  than  in  any  other  direc- 
tion perpendicular  to  the  same  rays.  Along  this 
line  I  therefore  looked  through  the  Nicol.  The  light, 
I  found,  could  be  quenched  so  as  to  leave  a  residue  as 
dark  as  the  firmament  upon  a  moonless  night ;  but 
still  there  was  a  residue — the  polarisation  was  not 
complete.  Nor  was  the  colour,  however  pure  its 
appearance,  by  any  means  a  monochromatic  blue.  A 
disc  of  selenite,  gradually  thickening  from  the  cen- 
tre to  the  circumference,  when  placed  between  the 
Nicol  and  the  sky,  yielded  vivid  iris  colours.  The 
blue  was  very  marked ;  but  there  was  vivid  purple, 
which  requires  an  admixture  of  red  to  produce  it. 
There  was  also  a  bright  green,  and  some  yellow.  In 
fact,  however  purely  blue  the  sky  might  seem,  it  sent 
to  the  eye  all  the  colours  of  the  spectrum  :  it  owed 
its  colour  to  the  jpredominance  of  blue,  that  is  to 
say,  to  the  enfeeblement,  and  not  to  the  extinction, 
of  the  other  colours  of  the  spectrum.  The  green 
wras  particularly  vivid  in   the   portion  of  the  sky 


308  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1868 

nearest  to  the  mountains,  where  the  light  was  '  daf- 
fodil.' 

A  pocket  spectroscope  confirmed  these  results. 
Permitting  the  light  of  an  illuminated  cloud  to 
enter  the  slit  of  the  instrument,  a  vivid  spectrum 
was  observed  ;  but  on  passing  beyond  the  rim  of  the 
cloud  to  the  adjacent  firmament,  a  sudden  fall  in 
the  intensity  of  all  the  less  refrangible  rays  of  the 
spectrum  was  observed.  There  was  an  absolute 
shortening  of  the  spectrum  in  the  direction  of  the 
red,  through  the  total  extinction  of  the  extreme  red. 
The  fall  in  luminousness  was  also  very  striking  as 
far  as  the  green  ;  the  blue  also  suffered,  but  not  so 
much  as  the  other  colours. 

The  scene  as  we  ascended  grew  more  and  more 
superb,  both  as  regards  grouping  and  expansion. 
Viewed  from  the  Bel  Alp  the  many-peaked  Dom  is 
a  most  imposing  mountain  ;  it  has  there  no  com- 
petitor. The  mass  of  the  Weisshorn  is  hidden,  its 
siunmit  alone  appearing.  The  Mattcrhorn,  also, 
besides  being  more  distant,  has  a  portion  of  its 
pyramid  cut  obliquely  away  by  the  slope  of  the 
same  ridge  tliat  intercepts  the  Weisshorn,  and 
which  is  seen  to  our  right  when  we  face  the 
valley  of  the  Rhone,  falling  steeply  to  the  pro- 
montory called  the  Nessel.  Viewed  from  this 
promontory,  the  Dom  finds  its  match,  and  more 
than   its  match,    in    its   mighty    neighbour,  whose 


1869]  ASCENT    OF   THE    ALETSCHHORN.  309 

hugeness  is  here  displayed  from  top  to  bottom.  On 
the  lower  reaches  of  the  Aletschhorn  also  the  Dom 
maintains  its  superiority,  the  Weisshorn  being  for 
a  time  wholly  unseen,  and  the  Matterhorn  but 
imperfectly.  As  we  rise,  however,  the  Dom  steadily 
loses  its  individuality,  until  from  the  ridge  of  the 
Aletschhorn  it  is  jumbled  to  a  single  leviathan  heap 
with  the  mass  of  Monte  Eosa.  The  Weisshorn  mean- 
while as  steadily  gains  in  grandeur,  rising  like  a 
mountain  Saul  amid  the  congregated  hills,  until 
from  the  arete  it  distances  all  competitors.  In 
comparison  with  this  kingly  peak,  the  Matterhorn 
looks  small  and  mean.  It  has  neither  the  mass  nor 
the  form  which  would  enable  it  to  compete,  from 
a  distant  point  of  view,  with  tlie  Weisshorn. 

The  ridge  of  the  Aletschhorn  is  of  schistose  gneiss, 
in  many  places  smooth,  in  all  places  steep,  and 
sometimes  demanding  skill  and  strength  on  the  part 
of  the  climber.  I  thought  we  could  scale  it  with 
greater  ease  if  untied,  so  I  flung  the  rope  away  from 
me.  My  guide  was  in  front,  and  I  carefully  watched 
his  action  among  the  rocks.  For  some  time  there 
was  nothing  to  cause  anxiety  for  his  safety.  There 
was  no  likelihood  of  a  slip,  and  If  a  slip  occurred 
there  was  opportunity  for  recovery.  But  after  a 
time  this  ceased  to  be  the  case.  The  rock  had  been 
scaled  away  by  weathering  parallel  to  the  planes  of 
foliation,  the  surfaces  left  behind  being  excess! vely 


810  HOURS  OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [1868 

smooth,  and  in  many  cases  flanked  by  slopes  and 
couloirs  of  perilous  steepness.  I  saw  that  a  slip 
might  occur  here,  and  that  its  consequences  would 
be  serious.     The  rope  was  therefore  resimied. 

A  fair  amoxmt  of  skill  and  an  absence  of  all  pre- 
cipitancy rendered  our  progress  perfectly  secure. 
In  every  place  of  danger  one  of  us  planted  himself 
as  securely  as  the  rock  on  which  he  stood,  and 
remained  thus  fixed  until  the  danger  was  passed  by 
the  other.  Both  of  us  were  never  exposed  to  peril 
at  the  same  moment.  The  bestowal  of  a  little 
extra  time  renders  this  arrangement  possible  along 
the  entire  ridge  of  the  Aletschhorn  ;  in  fact,  the 
dangers  of  the  Alps  can  be  almost  reduced  to  the 
level  of  the  dangers  of  the  street  by  the  exercise  of 
skill  and  caution.  For  rashness,  ignorance,  or  care- 
lessness the  mountains  leave  no  margin ;  and  to 
rashness,  ignorance,  or  carelessness  three-fourths 
of  the  catastrophes  which  shock  us  are  to  be  traced. 
Even  those  whose  faculties  are  ever  awake  in  danger 
are  sometimes  caught  napping  when  danger  seems 
remote  ;  they  receive  accordingly  the  punishment 
of  a  tyro  for  a  tyro's  neglect.^ 

While  ascending  the  lower  glacier  wc  found  the 
air  in  general  crisp  and  cool ;  but  wo  were  visited 
at  intervals  by  gusts  of  Fohn — warm  breathings  of 
the  unexplained  Alpine  sirocco,  which  passed  over 

•  See  jllustnition  nt  the  end  of  this  chapter. 


1869J  ASCENT    OF   THE    ALETSCHHORN.  311 

our  cheeks  like  pu£Fs  from  a  gently  heated  stove. 
On  the  arete  we  encountered  no  Fohn ;  but  the 
rocks  were  so  hot  as  to  render  contact  with  them 
painful.  I  left  my  coat  among  them,  and  went 
upward  in  my  shirt-sleeves.  At  our  last  bivouac 
my  guide  had  allowed  two  hours  for  the  remaining 
ascent.  We  accomplished  it  in  one,  and  I  was 
surprised  by  the  shout  which  announced  the 
passage  of  the  last  difficulty,  and  the  proximity 
of  the  top  of  the  mountain.  This  we  reached  pre- 
cisely eight  hours  after  starting — an  ascent  of  fair 
rapidity,  and  without  a  single  mishap  from  begin- 
ning to  end. 

Eock,  weathered  to  fragments,  constitutes  the 
crown  of  the  Aletschhorn ;  but  against  this  and 
above  it  is  heaped  a  buttress  of  snow,  which  tapers, 
as  seen  from  the  -^ggischhom,  to  a  pinnacle  of  sur- 
passing beauty.  This  snow  was  firm,  and  we  readily 
attained  its  highest  point.  Over  this  I  leaned  for 
ten  minutes,  looking  along  the  face  of  the  pyramid, 
which  fell  for  thousands  of  feet  to  the  neves  at  its 
base.  We  looked  down  upon  the  Jungfrau,  and 
upon  every  other  peak  for  miles  around  us,  one  only 
excepted.  The  exception  was  the  Finsteraarhorn, 
the  highest  of  the  Oberland  mountains,  after  which 
comes  the  Aletschhorn.  I  could  clearly  track  the 
course  pursued  by  Bennen  and  myself  eleven  years 
previously — the  spurs  of  rock  and  slopes  of  snow, 


312  HOURS   OF   EXEKCISE   IN    THE    ALPS.  [1869 

the  steep  and  weathered  crest  of  the  mountain,  and 
the  line  of  our  swift  glissade  as  we  returned. 

Eound  about  the  dominant  peak  of  the  Oberland 
was  grouped  a  crowd  of  other  peaks,  retreating 
eastward  to  G-raubiinden  and  the  distant  Engadin  ; 
retreating  southward  over  Italy,  and  blending  ulti- 
mately with  the  atmosphere.  At  hand  were  the 
Jungfrau,  Monch,  and  Eiger.  A  little  further  off 
the  Blumlis  Alp,  the  Weisse  Fran,  and  the  Great 
and  Little  Nesthorn.  In  the  distance  the  grim 
precipices  of  Mont  Blanc,  rising  darkly  from  the 
AUee  Blanche,  and  lifting  to  the  firmament  the 
snow-crown  of  the  mountain.  The  Combin  and  its 
neighboxirs  were  distinct ;  and  then  came  that 
trinity  of  grandeur,  with  which  the  reader  is  so  well 
acquainted — the  Weisshorn,  the  Matterhorn,  and 
the  Dom — supported  by  the  Alphubel,  the  Allalein- 
hom,  the  Rympfischhom,  the  Strahlhorn,  and  the 
mighty  Monte  Rosa.  From  no  other  point  in  the 
Alps  have  I  had  a  greater  command  of  their  mag- 
nificence— perhaps  from  none  so  great;  while  the 
blessedness  of  perfect  health,  on  this  perfect  day, 
rounded  off  within  me  the  external  splendour.  The 
sun  seemed  to  take  a  pleasure  in  bringing  out  the 
glory  of  the  hills.  The  intermixture  of  light  and 
shade  was  astonishing ;  while  to  the  whole  scene  a 
mystic  air  was  imparted  by  a  belt  of  haze,  in  which 
the  furthest  outlines  disappeared,  as  if  infinite 
«liRtancc  liad  rendered  tliein  impalpable. 


1S69J  ASCEST    OF   THE    ALETSCHHOEN.  313 

Two  concentric  shells  of  atmosphere,  perfectly 
distinct  in  character,  clasped  the  earth  this  morning. 
That  which  hugged  the  sm-face  was  of  a  deep  neutral 
tint,  too  shallow  to  reach  more  than  midway  up  the 
loftier  mountains.  Upon  this,  as  upon  an  ocean, 
rested  the  luminous  higher  atmospheric  layer,  both 
being  separated  along  the  horizon  by  a  perfectly 
definite  line.  This  higher  region  was  without  a 
cloud ;  the  arro"\vy  streamer  that  had  shot  across  the 
firmament  during  our  ascent,  first  reduced  to  feathery 
streaks,  had  long  since  melted  utterly  away.  Blue 
was  supreme  above,  while  all  round  the  horizon  the 
intrinsic  brilliance  of  the  upper  air  was  enhanced  by 
contrast  with  the  dusky  ground  on  which  it  rested. 
But  this  gloomier  portion  of  the  atmosphere  was  also 
transparent.  It  was  not  a  cloud-stratum  cutting  off 
the  view  of  things  below  it,  but  an  attenuated  mist, 
through  which  were  seen,  as  through  a  glass  darkly, 
the  lower  mountains,  and  out  of  which  the  higher 
peaks  and  ridges  sprung  into  sudden  glory. 

Our  descent  was  conducted  with  the  same  care 
and  success  that  attended  our  ascent.  I  have  already 
stated  it  to  be  a  new  thing  for  one  man  to  lead  a 
traveller  up  the  mountain,  and  my  guide  in  ascending 
had  informed  me  that  his  wife  had  been  in  a  state 
of  great  anxiety  about  him.  But  until  he  had  cleared 
all  dangers  he  did  not  let  me  know  the  extent  of  her 
devotion,  nor  the  means  she  had  adopted  to  ensure 
his   safety.     When    we  were    once  more  upon    the 


314  HOURS  OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE   ALPS.  [i860 

lower  glacier,  having  left  all  difficulties  behind  us, 
he  remarked  with  a  chuckle  that  she  had  been  in  a 
terrible  state  of  fear,  and  had  informed  him  of  her 
intention  to  have  a  mass  for  his  safety  celebrated 
by  the  village  priest.  But  if  he  profited  by  this 
mediation,  I  must  have  done  so  equally ;  for  in  all 
dangerous  places  we  were  tied  together  by  a  rope 
which  was  far  too  strong  to  break  had  I  slipped. 
My  safety  was,  in  fact,  bound  up  in  his,  and  I 
therefore  thought  it  right  to  pay  my  share  of  the 
expense,  '  How  much  did  the  mass  cost  ? '  I  asked. 
'Oh,  not  much,  sir,'  he  replied;  'only  ninety  cen- 
times.' Not  deeming  the  expense  worth  dividing, 
I  let  him  pay  for  such  advantage  as  I  had  derived 
from  the  priest's  intercession. 


In  1868  I  had  been  so  much  broken  down  on 
going  to  the  Alps  that  even  amongst  them  I  found 
it  difficult  to  recover  energy.  In  1869,  however, 
after  a  severe  discipline  in  bathing  and  climbing,' 
my  weariness  disappeared,  and  before  I  attacked 
the  Aletschhorn  I  felt  that  my  restoration  was  en- 
sured.    In  my  subsequent  rambles  it  was  a  great 

'  In  1869  I  tried  to  get  to  tho  top  of  tlieWcttcrliorn  in  a  single  day 
from  Grlndelwnld,  but  the  wildness  of  the  storm  and  the  bitterness 
of  tho  cold  drove  Peter  Baumann  and  me  back,  when  we  were  within 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  of  tho  top.  I  was  afterwards  in  the  habit  of 
taking  to  tho  Riffel  8eo  when  heavy  snow  was  falling.  It  was  at 
the  Bel  Alp,  however,  that  I  found  myself  renewed. 


1869]  ASCENT    OF   THE    ALETSCHHORN.  315 

delight  and  refreshment  to  me,  whenever  I  felt 
heated,  to  choose  a  bubbling  pool  in  some  mo\mtain 
stream,  roll  myself  in  it,  and  afterwards  dance  myself 
dry  in  the  sunshine.  Each  morning  I  had  a  tub  in 
a  rivulet,  a  header  in  a  lake,  or  a  douche  under  a 
cascade.  The  best  of  these  was  half  a  mile  or  more 
from  the  hotel,  but  there  was  an  inferior  waterfall 
close  at  hand  to  which  I  resorted  when  time  was 
short.  On  a  bright  morning  towards  the  end  of 
August  1869  I  was  returning  from  this  cascade  to  my 
clothes,  which  were  about  twenty  yards  off.  They 
might  have  been  reached  by  walking  on  the  grass, 
but  I  chose  to  walk  on  some  slippery  blocks  of  gneiss, 
and  using  no  caution  I  staggered  and  fell.  My  shin 
was  urged  with  great  force  against  the  sharp  crystals, 
which  inflicted  three  ugly  wounds  ;  but  I  sponged 
the  blood  away,  wrapped  a  cold  bandage  round  the 
injured  place,  and  limped  to  the  hotel.  I  was  quite 
disabled,  but  felt  sure  of  speedy  recovery,  my  health 
was  so  strong. 

For  four  or  five  days  I  remained  quietly  in  bed. 
The  wound  had  become  entirely  painless  ;  there 
was  hardly  any  inflammation  and  no  pus.  I  felt 
so  well  that  I  thought  a  little  exercise  would  do 
me  less  harm  than  good.  I  abandoned  my  cold 
bandage  and  went  out.  That  night  inflammation 
set  in,  pus  appeared,  and  in  trying  to  dislodge  it  I 
poisoned  the  wound.     It  became  worse  and  worse ; 


316  HOURS   OF    EXERCISE    IN   THE    ALPS.  [186» 

erysipelas  set  in,  and  at  last  it  became  evident  that 
I  might  lose  my  foot  or  something  more  important. 
After  remaining  nearly  a  fortnight  at  the  Bel  Alp 
without  medical  advice  I  resolved  to  go  to  Geneva. 
I  wrote  accordingly  to  my  friend  Professor  De  la  Rive, 
with  the  view  of  securing  the  services  of  an  able 
surgeon.  I  was  carried  down  to  Brieg  on  a  kind  of 
bier,  and  midway  on  the  mountain-slope  had  the  good 
fortune  to  meet  Mr.  Ellis  of  Sloane  Street.  He 
examined  my  wound,  and  I  have  good  reason  to  feel 
grateful  to  him  for  his  extreme  kindness  and  his 
excellent  advice.  My  friend  Soret  met  me  at  the 
railway  station,  and  Dr.  Gauthier  was  at  my  side  a 
few  seconds  after  I  entered  my  hotel. 

But,  despite  all  the  care,  kindness,  and  real  skill 
bestowed  upon  me,  I  was  a  month  in  bed  at  Geneva. 
A  sinus  about  five  inches  long  had  worked  its  channel 
from  tlie  wound  down  to  the  instep,  which  was 
undermined  by  an  abscess.  This  Dr.  Gauthier  dis- 
covered and  by  assiduous  attention  cured.  In  her 
beautiful  residence  at  Lammermor,  on  the  margin 
of  Lake  Leman,  Lady  Emily  Peel  liad  a  bed  erected 
for  me  as  soon  as  I  was  able  to  go  there,  and  it  was 
under  lier  roof  that  the  last  traces  of  the  sinus 
disappeared.  I  was  so  emaciated,  however,  that  it 
ref[uired  several  months  to  restore  the  flesli  and  the 
strength  that  this  paltry  accident  cost  me. 


1869]  ASCEKT    OF   THE    ALETSCHHORN.  317 

In  1870  I  was  again  at  the  Bel  Alp  for  several 
weeks,  during  which  my  interest  was  continually 
kept  awake  by  telegrams  from  the  seat  of  war  ;  for 
the  enterprising  proprietors  both  at  the  Bel  Alp  and 
the  ^ggischhorn  had  run  telegraphic  wires  from 
the  valley  of  the  Rhone  up  to  their  respective  hotels. 
The  most  noteworthy  occurrence  among  the  moun- 
tains in  1870  was  a  terrific  thunderstorm,  which  set 
two  forests  on  fire  by  the  same  discharge.  One  fire 
near  the  Eieder  Alp  was  speedily  quenched;  the 
other,  under  the  Nessel,  burned  for  several  successive 
days  and  nights,  and  threatened  to  become  a  public 
calamity.  A  constant  fiery  glow  was  kept  up  by  the 
combustion  of  the  underwood,  which  formed  the  ve- 
hicle of  transmission  among  the  larger  trees.  Three 
or  four  of  these  would  often  burst  simultaneously 
into  pyramids  of  flame,  which  would  last  but  a  few 
minutes,  leaving  the  trees  with  all  their  branches  as 
red-hot  embers  behind.  Heavy  and  persistent  rain 
at  length  extinguished  the  conflagration. 


318  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  flSSJ 


XXVI. 

A   DAT  AMONG  THE  S:ERACS   OF  THE   GLA- 

ciER   Du   g:Bant  fourteen  years 

AGO. 

Having  fixed  my  head-quarters  at  the  Montanvert, 
I  was  engaged  for  nearly  six  weeks  during  the 
summer  of  1857  in  making  observations  on  the  Mer 
de  Grlace  and  its  tributaries.  Throughout  this  time 
I  had  the  advantage  of  the  able  and  unremitting 
assistance  of  my  friend  Mr.  Hirst,  who  kindly  under- 
took, in  most  cases,  the  measurement  of  the  motion 
of  the  glacier.  My  pei'manent  guide,  Edouard 
Simond,  an  intelligent  and  trustworthy  man,  was 
assistant  on  these  occasions,  and  having  arranged 
with  Mr.  Hirst  the  measurements  required  to  be 
made,  it  was  my  custom  to  leave  the  execution  of 
them  to  him,  and  to  spend  much  of  my  time  alone 
upon  the  glaciers.  Days  have  thus  been  occupied 
amid  the  confusion  of  the  Glacier  du  Geant,  at  the 
base  of  the  great  ice-fall  of  La  Noire,  in  trying 
to  connect  the  veined  structure  of  the  glacier  with 


1857]       THE   SfRACS   OF   THE   GLACIER   DD    G^ANT.         319 

the  stratification  of  its  neve  ;  and  often,  after  wan- 
dering almost  unconsciously  from  peak  to  peak  and 
from  hollow  to  hollow,  I  have  found  myself,  as  the 
day  was  waning,  in  places  from  which  it  required  a 
sound  axe  and  a  vigorous  stroke  to  set  me  free. 

This  practice  gradually  developed  my  powers  of 
dealing  with  the  difficulties  of  the  glacier.  On 
some  occasions,  however,  I  found  the  assistance  of  a 
companion  necessary,  and  it  was  then  my  habit  to 
take  with  me  a  hardy  boy  named  Balmat,  who  was 
attached  to  the  hotel  at  the  Montanvert.  He  could 
climb  like  a  cat,  and  one  of  our  first  expeditions 
together  was  an  ascent  to  a  point  above  Trelaporte, 
from  which  a  magnificent  view  of  the  entire  glacier 
is  obtained.  This  point  lies  under  the  Aiguille  de 
Charmoz,  and  to  the  left  of  a  remarkable  cleft, 
which  is  sure  to  attract  the  traveller's  attention 
on  looking  upwards  from  the  Montanvert.  We 
reached  the  place  through  a  precipitous  couloir  on 
the  Montanvert  side  of  the  mountain ;  and  while 
two  chamois  watched  us  from  the  crags  above,  we 
made  our  observations,  and  ended  our  survey  by 
pledging  the  health  of  Forbes  and  other  explorers 
of  the  Alps. 

We  descended  from  the  eminence  by  a  different 
route  ;  during  both  ascent  and  descent  I  had 
occasion  to  admire  the  courage  and  caution  of  my 
young   companion,  and   the  extraordinary  cohesive 


320  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    TUB    ALPS.  [1857 

force  by  which  he  clung  to  the  rock.  He,  moreover, 
evidently  felt  himself  responsible  for  my  safety,  and 
once  when  I  asserted  my  independence  so  far  as  to 
attempt  descending  a  kind  of  '  chimney,'  which, 
though  rather  dangerous-lookin.g;  I  considered  to  be 
practicable,  he  sprang  to  my  side,  and,  with  out- 
stretched arm  and  ringing  voice,  exclaimed,  '  Mon- 
sieur, je  vous  defends  de  passer  par  la  ! ' 

Anxious  to  avoid  the  inconvenience  of  the  rules 
of  the  Chamouni  guides,  my  aim,  from  the  first, 
was  to  render  myself  as  far  as  possible  independent 
of  their  assistance.  Wishing  to  explore  the  slopes 
of  the  Col  du  Geant,  not  for  the  purpose  of  crossing 
into  Piedmont,  but  to  examine  the  fine  ice-sections 
which  it  exhibits,  and  to  trace  amid  its  chasms  the 
gradual  conversion  of  the  snow  into  ice,  I  at  first 
thought  of  attempting  the  ascent  of  the  col  alone  ; 
but '  le  petit  Balmat,'  as  my  host  at  the  Montanvert 
always  named  him,  acquitted  himself  so  well  on  the 
occasion  referred  to  that  I  thought  he  would  make 
a  suitable  companion.  On  naming  the  project  to 
him  he  eagerly  embraced  my  proposal ;  in  fact,  he 
said  he  was  willing  to  try  Mont  Blanc  with  me  if  I 
desired  it. 

On  the  morning  of  Friday,  July  24,  we  ac- 
cordingly set  off  for  the  Tacul,  I  making,  as  we 
ascended,  such  few  observations  as  lay  in  our  way. 
The  sun  shone  gloriously  upon  the  mountains,  and 


.857]      THE   SfRACS   OF   THE   GLACIER   DU   GJSaNT.         321 

gleamed  by  reflection  from  the  surface  of  the  glacier. 
Looked  at  through  a  pair  of  very  dark  spectacles, 
the  scene  was  exceedingly  striking  and  instructive. 
Terraces  of  snow  clung  to  the  moimtains,  exposing, 
here  and  there,  high  vertical  sections,  which  cast 
dense  shadows  upon  the  adjacent  plateaux.  The 
glacier  was  thrown  into  heaps  and  'hummocks,' 
their  tops  glistening  with  white,  silvery  light,  and 
their  sides  intensely  shaded.  When  the  lateral  light 
was  quite  shut  out,  and  all  that  reached  the  eyes 
had  to  pass  through  the  spectacles,  the  contrast 
between  light  and  shade  was  much  stronger  than 
when  the  glacier  was  viewed  by  the  broad  light  of 
day.  In  fact,  the  shadows  were  no  longer  grey 
merely,  but  black ;  to  a  similar  augmentation  of 
contrast  towards  the  close  of  the  day  is  to  be  re- 
ferred the  fact  that  the  '  Dirt  Bands '  of  the  Mer  de 
Grlace  are  best  seen  by  twilight. 

A  gentleman  had  started  in  the  morning  to  cross 
the  col,  accompanied  by  two  strong  guides.  We 
met  a  man  returning  from  the  Jardin,  who  told  ua 
that  he  had  seen  the  party  that  preceded  us  ;  that 
they  had  been  detained  a  long  time  amid  the 
seracs,  and  that  our  ascending  without  ladders  was 
quite  out  of  the  question.  As  we  approached  the 
Tacul,  my  lynx-eyed  little  companion  ranged  with 
the  telescope  over  the  snowy  slopes  of  the  col,  and 
at  length  exclaimed,  '  Je  les  vois,  tons  les  trois  1'— 


52S  HOURS  OF  EXEKCISE   IN    THE   ALPS.  [1867 

the  *  Monsieur '  in  the  middle,  and  a  guide  before 
and  behind.  They  seemed  like  three  black  specks 
upon  the  shoulders  of  the  Giant ;  below  them  was 
the  vast  ice-cascade,  resembling  the  foam  of  ten 
Niagaras  placed  end  to  end  and  stiffened  into  rest, 
while  the  travellers  seemed  to  walk  upon  a  floor  as 
smooth  as  polished  Carrara  marble.  Here  and 
there,  however,  its  imiformity  was  broken  by  vertical 
faults,  exposing  precipices  of  the  stratified  neve. 

On  an  old  moraine  near  the  Tacul,  piled  up 
centuries  ago  by  the  Glacier  de  Lechaud,  immense 
masses  of  granite  are  thrown  confusedly  together; 
and  one  enormous  slab  is  so  cast  over  a  number  of 
others  as  to  form  a  kind  of  sheltered  grotto,  which 
we  proposed  to  make  our  resting-place  for  the  night. 
Having  deposited  our  loads  here,  I  proceeded  to  the 
icefall  of  the  Talefre,  while  my  companion  set  out 
towards  the  Couvercle  in  search  of  firewood.  I 
walked  round  the  base  of  the  frozen  cascade,  and 
climbed  up  among  its  riven  pinnacles,  examining  the 
structure  as  I  ascended.  The  hollow  rumble  of  the 
rocks  as  they  fell  into  the  crevasses  was  incessant. 
From  holes  in  the  ice-cliffs  clear  cataracts  gushed, 
coming  I  knew  not  whence,  and  going  I  knew  not 
whither.  Sometimes  the  deep  gurgle  of  sub-glacial 
water  was  heard,  far  down  in  the  ice.  The  resonance 
of  the  water  as  it  fell  into  shafts  struck  me  suddenly 
at  intervals  on  turning  corners,  and  seemed,  in  each 


1857]      THE   sffiACS   OF  THE   GLACIER   DU   G^ANT.        323 

case,  as  if  a  new  torrent  had  bounded  into  life. 
Streams  flowed  tlirough  deep  channels  which  they 
themselves  had  worn,  revealing  beautifully  the  '  rib- 
boned structure.'  At  the  further  end  of  the  Glacier 
de  Lechaud  the  Capucin  Rock  stood,  like  a  preacher; 
and  below  him  a  fantastic  group  of  granite  pinnacles 
Buggested  the  idea  of  a  congregation.  The  outlines 
of  some  of  the  ice-cliffs  were  also  very  singular ; 
and  it  needed  but  a  slight  effort  of  the  imagination 
to  people  the  place  with  natural  sculpture. 

At  six  o'clock  the  shrill  whistle  of  my  companion 
announced  that  our  time  of  meeting  was  come. 
He  had  found  some  wood — dry  twigs  of  rhododen- 
drons, and  a  couple  of  heavy  stumps  of  juniper.  I 
shouldered  the  largest  of  the  latter,  while  he 
strapped  his  twigs  on  his  back,  and  led  the  way  to 
the  Tacul.  The  sun  shot  his  oblique  rays  against  us 
over  the  heights  of  Charmoz,  and  cast  our  shadows 
far  up  the  glacier.  We  filled  our  saucepan,  which 
Balmat  named  '  a  machine,'  with  clear  water,  and 
bore  it  to  our  cavern,  where  the  fire  was  soon 
crackling  under  the  machine.  I  was  assailed  by  the 
smoke,  which  set  my  eyes  dripping  tears  ;  but  this 
cleared  away  when  the  fire  brightened,  and  we 
boiled  our  chocolate  and  made  a  comfortable  evening 
meal. 

I  afterwards  clambered  up  the  moraine  to  watch 
the  tints  of  the  setting  sun ;  clouds  floated  round  the 


324  HOURS   of   exercise   in   the    alps.  [1867 

Aiguille  de  Charmoz,  and  were  changed  from  grey  to 
red,  and  from  red  to  grey,  as  their  positions  varied. 
The  shadows  of  the  isolated  peaks  and  pinnacles 
were  drawn,  at  times,  in  black  bands  across  the 
clouds ;  and  the  Aiguille  du  Moine  smiled  and 
frowned  alternately.  One  high  snow-peak  alone 
enjoyed  the  unaltered  radiance  of  the  sinking  day ; 
the  sunshine  never  forsook  it,  but  glowed  there, 
like  the  steady  light  of  love,  while  a  kind  of 
coquetry  was  carried  on  between  the  atmosphere  and 
the  surrounding  mountains.  The  notched  summits 
of  the  Grande  and  Petite  Jorasse  leaned  peacefully 
against  the  blue  firmament.  The  highest  moun- 
tain-crags were  cleft,  in  some  cases,  into  fantastic 
forms ;  single  pillars  stood  out  from  all  else,  like 
lonely  watchers,  over  the  mountain  scene;  while 
little  red  clouds  playfully  embraced  them  at  inter- 
vals, and  converted  them  into  pillars  of  fire. 

The  sun  at  length  departed,  and  all  became  cold 
and  grey  upon  the  mountains  ;  but  a  brief  secondary 
glow  came  afterwards,  and  warmed  up  the  brown 
cliffs  once  more.  I  descended  the  moraine,  the 
smell  of  the  smoke  guiding  me  towards  the  rock 
under  which  I  was  to  pass  the  night.  A  fire  was 
burning  at  the  mouth  of  the  grotto,  reddening  with 
its  glare  the  darkness  of  the  interior.  Beside  the  fire 
sat  my  little  companion,  with  a  tall,  conical,  red  night- 
cap drawn  completely  over  his  ears;  our  saucepan 


1867]      THE   SfRACS    OF   THE   GLACIER    DU    G^ANT.        325 

was  bubbling  on  the  fire ;  he  watched  it  medita- 
tively, adding  at  times  a  twig,  which  sprung  im- 
mediately into  flame,  and  strengthened  the  glow 
upon  his  countenance.  He  looked,  in  fact,  more  like 
a  demon  of  the  ice-world  than  a  being  of  ordinary 
flesh  and  blood.  I  had  been  recommended  to  take 
a  bit  of  a  tallow  candle  with  me  to  rub  my  face 
with,  as  a  protection  against  the  sun ;  by  the  light 
of  this  we  spread  our  rugs,  lay  down  upon  them,  and 
wrapped  them  round  us. 

The  countless  noises  heard  upon  the  glacier  during 
the  day  were  now  stilled,  and  dead  silence  ruled  the 
ice-world  ;  the  roar  of  an  occasional  avalanche,  how- 
ever, shooting  down  the  flanks  of  Mont  Mallet  broke 
upon  us  with  startling  energy.  I  did  not  sleep  till 
towards  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  I  dozed 
and  dreamed,  and  mingled  my  actual  condition  with 
my  dream.  When  I  awoke,  I  found  my  head  weary 
enough  upon  the  clay  of  the  old  moraine,  my  ribs 
pressed  closely  against  a  block  of  granite,  and  my 
feet  amid  sundry  fragments  of  the  same  material. 
It  was  nearly  five  o'clock  on  Saturday  the  25th 
when  I  arose ;  my  companion  quickly  followed  my 
example.  He  also  had  slept  but  little,  and  once  or 
twice  during  the  night  I  fancied  I  could  feel  him 
shiver.  We  were,  however,  well  protected  from  the 
cold.  The  high  moraine  of  the  Glacier  du  Lechaud 
was  on  one  side,  that  of  the  Glacier  du  Geant  on 


826  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE   IN   THE    ALPS.  [1857 

the  other,  while  the  cliffs  of  Mont  Tacul  formed  the 
third  side  of  a  triangle,  which  sheltered  us  from  the 
sharper  action  of  the  wind.  At  times  the  calm  was 
perfect,  and  I  felt  almost  too  warm  ;  then  again  a 
searching  wind  would  enter  the  grotto,  and  cause 
the  skin  to  shrink  on  all  exposed  parts  of  the  body. 
It  had  frozen  hard,  and  to  obtain  water  for  washing 
I  had  to  break  through  a  sheet  of  ice  which  coated 
one  of  the  pools  upon  the  glacier. 

In  a  few  minutes  our  juniper  fire  was  crackling 
cheerily;  we  made  our  chocolate  and  breakfasted. 
My  companion  emptied  the  contents  of  a  small 
brandy  bottle  into  my  flask,  which,  however,  was 
too  small  to  hold  it  all,  and  on  the  principle,  I 
uppose,  of  avoiding  waste,  he  drank  what  remained. 
It  was  not  much,  but  sufficient  to  muddle  his  brain, 
and  to  make  him  sluggish  and  drowsy  for  a  time. 
We  put  the  necessary  food  in  our  knapsacks  and 
faced  our  task,  first  ascending  the  Glacier  du 
Tacul  along  its  eastern  side,  imtil  we  came  to  the 
base  of  the  seracs. 

The  vast  mass  of  snow  collected  on  the  plateau 
of  the  Col  du  Geant,  and  compressed  to  ice  by  its 
own  weight,  reaches  the  throat  of  the  valley,  which 
stretches  from  the  rocks  called  Le  Rognon  to  the 
promontory  of  the  Aiguille  Noire.  Through  this 
defile  it  is  forced,  falling  steeply,  and  forming  one 
of  the  grandest  ice-cascades  in  the  Alps.     At  the 


1867]       THE   SfRACS   OF    TirE   GLACIER   DU   GfANT.         327 

summit  it  is  broken  into  transverse  chasms  of  enor- 
mous width  and  depth ;  the  ridges  between  these 
break  across  again,  and  form  those  castellated 
masses  to  which  the  name  of  seracs  has  been 
applied.  In  descending  the  cascade  the  ice  is 
crushed  and  riven ;  ruined  towers,  which  have 
tumbled  from  the  summit,  cumber  the  slope,  and 
smooth  vertical  precipices  of  ice  rise  in  succession 
out  of  the  ruins.  At  the  base  of  the  fall  the  frag- 
ments are  again  squeezed  together,  but  the  con- 
fusion is  still  great,  the  glacier  being  tossed  into 
billowy  shapes,  scooped  into  caverns,  and  cut  into 
gorges  by  torrents  which  expand  here  and  there 
into  deep  green  lakes. 

Across  this  portion  of  the  glacier  we  proceeded 
westward,  purposing  to  attempt  the  ascent  at  the 
Eognon  side.'  Perils  and  difficulties  soon  began  to 
thicken  round  us.  The  confusion  of  ice-pinnacles, 
crags,  and  chasms  was  very  bewildering.     Plates  of 

'  Standing  here  alone,  on  another  occasion,  I  heard  the  roar  of 
what  appeared  to  be  a  descending  avalanche,  but  the  duration  of  the 
Bound  suprised  me.  I  looked  through  my  opera-glass  in  the  direction 
from  which  the  sound  proceeded,  and  saw  issuing  from  the  end  of 
one  of  the  secondary  glaciers  on  the  side  of  Mont  Tacul  a  torrent  of 
what  appeared  to  me  to  be  stones  and  mud.  I  could  see  the  rocks 
and  debris  jumping  down  the  declivities,  and  forming  singular 
cascades.  The  noise  continued  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  when  the 
descending  torrent  diminished  until  the  ordinary  stream,  due  to 
the  melting  of  the  glacier,  alone  remained.  A  sub-glacial  lake  had 
evidently  burst  its  bounds,  and  carried  the  debris  along  with  it  in  its 
rush  downwards. 


328  HOURS   OF    EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1867 

ice  jutted  from  the  glacier  like  enormous  fins,  up 
the  sides  of  which  we  had  to  rise  by  steps,  and  along 
the  edges  of  which  we  had  to  walk.  Often,  while 
perched  upon  these  eminences,  we  were  flanked 
right  and  left  by  crevasses,  the  depth  of  which 
might  be  inferred  from  their  impenetrable  gloom. 
At  some  places  forces  of  extreme  complexity  had 
acted  on  the  mass ;  the  ridges  were  broken  into 
columns,  and  some  of  these  were  twisted  half  round  ; 
while  the  chasms  were  cut  up  into  shafts  which 
resembled  gigantic  honeycombs.  Our  work  was 
\exj  difficult,  sometimes  disheartening :  neverthe- 
less, our  inspiration  was,  that  what  man  has  done 
man  may  do,  and  Ave  accordingly  persevered.  My 
fellow-traveller  was  silent  for  a  time :  the  brandy 
had  its  effect  upon  him,  and  he  confessed  it ;  but 
I  thought  that  a  contact  with  the  cold  ice  would 
soon  cause  this  to  disappear,  after  which  I  resolved 
not  to  influence  his  judgment  in  the  least. 

Looking  now  to  the  right,  I  suddenly  became 
aware  that,  high  above  us,  a  multitude  of  unstable 
crags  and  leaning  columns  of  ice  covered  the  pre- 
cipitous incline.  We  had  reached  a  position  where 
protecting  cliffs  rose  to  our  right,  while  in  front  of 
us  was  a  space  more  open  than  any  we  liad  yet 
passed.  Tlie  reason  was  that  the  ice  avalanches  had 
chosen  it  for  their  principal  path.  We  had  stepped 
upon  this  space  when  a  peal  al)ovo  us  })roiight  us  to 


1857 J      THE   S^RACS   OF    THE   GLACIER   DU   G^ANT.        329 

a  stand.  Crash !  crasli !  crash !  nearer  and  nearer, 
the  sound  becoming  more  continuous  and  confused, 
as  the  descending  masses  broke  into  smaller  blocks. 
Onward  they  came  I  boulders  half  a  ton  and  more 
in  weight,  leaping  down  with  a  kind  of  maniacal 
fury,  as  if  their  sole  mission  was  to  crush  the  seracs 
to  powder.  Some  of  them  on  striking  the  ice 
reboimded  like  elastic  balls,  described  parabolas 
through  the  air,  again  smote  the  ice,  and  scattered 
its  dust  like  clouds  in  the  atmosphere.  Deflected 
by  their  collision  with  the  glacier,  some  blocks  were 
carried  past  us  within  a  few  yards  of  the  spot  where 
we  stood.  I  had  never  before  witnessed  an  exhibi- 
tion of  force  at  all  comparable  to  this,  and  its 
proximity  rendered  that  fearful  which  at  a  little 
distance  would  have  been  sublime. 

My  companion  held  his  breath,  and  then  ex- 
claimed, '  C'est  terrible !  il  faut  retoumer.'  In 
fact,  while  the  avalanche  continued  we  could  not 
at  all  calculate  upon  our  safety.  When  wo  heard 
the  first  peal  we  had  instinctively  retreated  to  the 
shelter  of  the  ice  bastions ;  but  what  if  one  of  these 
missiles  struck  the  tower  beside  us !  would  it  be 
able  to  withstand  the  shock  ?  We  knew  not.  In 
reply  to  the  proposal  of  my  companion,  I  simply 
said,  '  By  all  means,  if  you  desire  it ;  but  let  us 
wait  a  little.'  I  felt  that  fear  was  just  as  bad  a 
counsellor  as   rashness,  and  thought  it  but  fair  to 


330  nouRS  OF  exercise  in  the  alps.  [1867 

wait  until  my  companion's  terror  had  subsided. 
We  waited  accordingly,  and  he  seemed  to  gather 
courage  and  assurance.  I  scanned  the  heights  and 
saw  that  a  little  more  effort  in  an  upward  direction 
would  place  us  in  a  much  less  perilous  position,  as 
far  as  the  avalanches  were  concerned.  I  pointed  this 
out  to  my  companion,  and  we  went  forward.  Once 
indeed,  for  a  minute  or  two,  I  felt  anxious.  We 
had  to  cross  in  the  shadow  of  a  tower  of  ice,  of  a 
loose  and  threatening  character,  which  quite  over- 
hung our  track.  The  freshly  broken  masses  at  its 
base,  and  at  some  distance  below  it,  showed  that  it 
must  have  partially  given  way  some  hours  before. 
*  Don't  speak  or  make  any  noise,'  said  my  companion  ; 
and,  although  rather  sceptical  as  to  the  influence  of 
speech  in  such  a  case,  I  held  my  tongue  and  escaped 
from  the  dangerous  vicinity  as  fast  as  my  legs  and 
alpenstock  could  carry  me. 

Unbroken  spaces,  covered  with  snow,  now  began 
to  spread  between  the  crevasses ;  these  latter,  how- 
ever, became  larger,  and  were  generally  placed  end 
to  end  en  echelon.  When,  therefoi'e,  we  arrived  at 
the  edge  of  a  chasm,  by  walking  along  it  we  usually 
soon  reached  a  point  where  a  second  one  joined  on 
it.  The  extremities  of  the  chasms  ran  parallel  to 
each  other  for  some  distance,  one  being  separated 
from  the  other,  throughout  this  distance,  by  a  wall 
of  incipient  ice,  coped  at  the  top  by  snow.     At  other 


l857j       THE   SfEACS    OF   THE   GLACIER   DU   G^ANT.        331 

places,  however,  the  lower  portion  of  the  partition 
between  the  fissures  had  melted  away,  leaving  the 
chasm  spanned  by  a  bridge  of  snow,  the  capacity  of 
which  to  bear  us  was  often  a  matter  of  delicate  ex- 
periment. Over  these  bridges  we  stepped  as  lightly 
as  possible :  *  Allez  doucement  ici,'  was  the  per- 
petual admonition  of  my  companion,  'et  il  faut 
toujours  sonder.' 

In  many  cases,  indeed,  we  could  not  at  all  guess 
at  the  state  of  matters  underneath  the  covering  of 
snow.  We  had  picked  up  a  few  hints  upon  this 
subject,  but  neither  of  us  was  at  this  time  suffi- 
ciently experienced  to  make  practical  use  of  them. 
The  '  sounding '  too  was  rather  weary  work,  as,  to 
make  it  of  any  value,  the  baton  must  be  driven 
into  the  snow  with  considerable  force.  Further 
up  in  the  Tieve  the  fissures  became  less  frequent, 
but  some  of  them  were  of  great  depth  and 
width.  On  those  silent  heights  there  is  something 
peculiarly  solemn  in  the  aspect  of  the  crevasses, 
yawning  gloomily  day  and  night,  as  if  with  a  never- 
satisfied  hunger.  We  stumbled  on  the  skeleton  of 
a  chamois,  which  had  probably  met  its  death  by 
falling  into  a  chasm,  and  been  disgorged  lower  down. 
But  a  thousand  chamois  between  these  cavernous 
jaws  would  not  make  a  mouthful.  I  scarcely  knew 
which  to  choose — these  pitfalls  of  the  Tiei'e,  or  the 
avalanches.     The  latter  are  terrible,  but  they  are 


532  HOURS   OF   EXERCISE    IN    THE    ALPS.  [1837 

grand,  outspoken  things ;  the  ice  crags  proclaim 
from  the?r  heights,  '  Do  not  trust  us ;  we  are  mo- 
mentary and  merciless.'  They  wear  the  aspect  of 
hostility  undisguised ;  but  these  chasms  of  the  neve 
are  typified  by  the  treachery  of  the  moral  world, 
hiding  themselves  under  shining  coverlets  of  snow, 
and  compassing  their  ends  by  dissimulation. 

After  some  time  we  alighted  on  the  trace  of  those 
who  had  crossed  the  day  before.  The  danger  was 
over  when  we  made  the  discovery,  but  it  saved  us 
some  exploring  amid  the  crevasses  which  still  re- 
mained. We  at  length  got  quite  clear  of  the  fissures 
and  mounted  zigzag  to  the  summit  of  the  col. 
Clouds  drove  up  against  us  from  the  valley  of 
Courmayeur,  but  they  made  no  way  over  the  col. 
At  the  summit  they  encountered  a  stratum  of  drier 
air,  mixing  with  which  they  were  reduced,  as  fast  as 
they  came,  to  a  state  of  invisible  vapour.  Upon  the 
very  top  of  the  col  I  spread  my  plaid,  and  with  the 
appetites  of  hungry  eagles  we  attacked  our  chicken 
and  mutton.  I  examined  the  snow  and  made  some 
experiments  on  sound ;  but  little  Bahnat's  feet  were 
60  cold  that  he  feared  being  frostbitten,  and  at  his 
entreaty  we  started  on  our  descent  again  as  soon  as 
possible. 

To  the  top  of  the  seracs  we  retraced  the  coiu-se  by 
which  we  had  ascended,  but  here  we  lost  the  track, 
for  there  was  no  snow  to  retain  it.     A  new  lesson 


1867]      THE   S^RACS    OF    THE   GLACIER    DU   GEAiNT.         333 

was  before  us.  We  kept  nearer  to  the  centre  of  the 
glacier  than  when  we  ascended,  thereby  avoiding  the 
avalanches,  but  getting  into  ice  more  riven  and  dis- 
located. We  were  often  utterly  at  a  loss  how  to  pro- 
ceed. My  companion  made  several  attempts  to  regain 
the  morning's  track,  preferring  to  risk  the  avalanches 
rather  than  be  blocked  and  ditched  up  in  an  ice- 
prison  from  which  we  saw  no  means  of  escape. 
Wherever  we  turned  peril  stared  us  in  the  face  ;  but 
the  recurrence  of  danger  had  rendered  us  callous  to 
it,  and  this  indifference  gave  a  mechanical  surety  to 
the  step  in  places  where  such  surety  was  the  only 
means  of  avoiding  destruction.  Once  or  twice,  while 
standing  on  the  summit  of  a  peak  of  ice,  and  looking 
at  the  pits  and  chasms  beneath  me,  at  the  distance 
through  which  we  had  hewn  our  way,  and  at  the 
work  still  to  be  accomplished,  I  experienced  an  in- 
cipient flush  of  terror.  But  this  was  immediately 
drowned  in  action.  Indeed  the  case  was  so  bad,  the 
necessity  for  exertion  so  paramount,  that  the  will 
acquired  an  energy  which  crushed  out  terror.  We 
proceeded,  however,  with  the  most  steady  watch- 
fulness. When  we  arrived  at  a  difficulty  which 
seemed  insuperable,  we  calmly  inspected  it,  looking 
at  it  on  all  sides ;  and  though  we  had  often  to 
retrace  our  steps  amid  cliffs  and  chasms,  still  for- 
midable obstacles  repeatedly  disappeared  before 
our  cool  and  searching  examination.     We  made  no 


834  nOURS    of    exercise    in    the    alps.  [186I 

haste,  we  took  no  rest,  but  ever  tended  downwards. 
With  all  our  instincts  of  self-preservation  awake,  we 
crossed  places  which,  without  the  spur  of  necessity 
to  drive  us,  we  should  have  deemed  impassable. 

Once,  having  walked  for  some  distance  along  the 
edge  of  a  high  wedge  of  ice,  we  had  to  descend  its 
left  face  in  order  to  cross  a  crevasse.  The  ice  was 
of  that  loose  granular  character  which  causes  it  to 
resemble  an  aggregate  of  little  polyhedrons  jointed 
together  more  than  a  coherent  solid.  I  was  not 
aware  that  the  substance  was  so  utterly  disintegrated 
as  it  proved  to  be.  To  aid  me  in  planting  my  foot 
securely  on  the  edge  of  the  crevasse,  I  laid  hold  of 
a  projecting  corner  of  the  ice.  It  crumbled  to 
pieces  in  my  hand ;  I  tottered  for  a  moment  in  the 
effort  to  regain  my  balance,  my  footing  gave  way, 
and  I  went  into  the  chasm.  I  heard  my  companion 
scream,  '  0  I  mon  Dieu,  il  est  perdu  I '  but  a  ledge 
about  two  feet  wide  jutted  from  the  side  of  the 
crevasse ;  and  this  received  me,  my  fall  not  amount- 
ing to  more  than  three  or  four  feet.  A  block 
of  ice  which  partially  jammed  up  the  chasm  con- 
cealed me  from  Balmat.  I  called  to  him,  and  he 
responded  by  another  exclamation,  '  0  !  mon  Dieu, 
comme  j'ai  peur ! '  He  helped  mc  up,  and,  looking 
anxiously  in  my  face,  demanded  'N'avez-vous  pas 
peur?'  Afterwards  the  difficulties  lessened  by 
degrees,    and  we    began    to   gladden   ourselves    by 


1867]      THE   S^RACS   OF    THE    GLACIER    DD    G^ANT.         335 

mutual  expressions  of  '  content '  with  what  we  had 
accomplished.  "We  at  length  reached  the  base  of 
the  seracs ;  ordinary  crevasess  were  trivial  in  com- 
parison with  those  from  which  we  had  escaped,  so 
we  hastened  along  the  glacier,  without  halting,  to 
the  Tacul. 

Here  a  paltry  accident  caused  me  more  damage 
than  all  the  dangers  of  the  day.  I  was  passing 
a  rock,  the  snow  beside  it  seemed  firm,  and  I 
placed  my  baton  upon  it,  leaning  trustfully  upon 
the  staff.  Through  the  warmth  of  the  rock,  or 
some  other  cause,  the  snow  had  been  rendered 
hollow  underneath  ;  it  yielded,  I  fell  forward,  and 
although  a  cat-like  capacity  of  helping  myself  in 
such  cases  saved  me  from  serious  hurt,  it  did  not 
prevent  my  knee  from  being  urged  with  all  my 
weight  against  an  edge  of  granite.  I  rested  for  half 
an  hour  in  our  grotto  at  the  Tacul,  and  afterwards 
struggled  lamely  along  the  Mer  de  Glace  home  to 
the  Montanvert.  Bloodshot  eyes,  burnt  cheeks,  and 
blistered  lips  were  the  result  of  the  journey,  but 
these  soon  disappeared,  and  fresh  strength  was 
gained  for  further  action. 

The  above  account  was  written  on  the  day  follow- 
ing the  ascent,  and  while  all  its  incidents  were  fresh 
in  my  memory.  Last  September,  guided  by  the 
tracks  of  previous  travellers,  I  ascended  nearly  to  the 
summit  of  the  ice-fall,  along  its  eastern  side,  and  to 


336  HOURS    OF    EXERCISE   IN   THE    ALPS.  [1867 

those  acc[uainted  only  with  such  dangers  as  I  then 
experienced  the  account  which  I  have  just  given 
must  appear  exaggerated.  I  can  only  say  that  the 
track  which  I  pursued  in  1858  bore  no  resemblance 
in  point  of  difficulty  to  that  which  I  followed  in 
1857.  The  reason  probably  is,  that  in  my  first 
expedition  neither  myself  nor  my  companion  knew 
anything  of  the  route,  and  we  were  totally  destitute 
of  the  adjuncts  which  guides  commonly  use  in 
crossing  the  *  Grand  Col.' 


NOTES  AND  COMMENTS 


ICE      AND      GLACIEES 


AND    OTHER    SCRAPS. 


VOYAGE    TO    ALGERIA    TO     OBSERVE 
THE  ECLIPSE. 


I. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  MEB  DE   GLACE. 

The  law  established  by  Forbes  and  Agassiz,  that  the 
central  portions  of  a  glacier  moved  faster  than  the 
sides,  was  amply  illustrated  and  confirmed  by  the 
deportment  of  lines  of  stakes  placed  across  the  Mer 
de  Glace  and  its  tributaries  in  1857.  The  portions 
of  the  trunk  glacier  derived  from  these  tributaries 
were  easily  traceable  throughout  the  glacier  by 
means  of  the  Tnorainea.  Thus,  for  example,  the 
portion  of  the  trunk  stream  derived  from  the 
Glacier  du  Geant  might  be  distinguished  in  a 
moment  from  the  other  portions  by  the  absence  of 
debris  upon  its  surface.  Attention  was  drawn  by 
Prof.  Forbes  to  the  fact  that  the  eastern  side  of 
the  JNIer  de  Glace  in  particular  is  '  excessively 
crevassed ; '  and  he  accounted  for  this  crevassing  by 
supposing  that  the  Glacier  du  Geant  moves  most 
swiftly,  and  in  its  effort  to  drag  its  more  sluggish 
companions  along  with  it  tears  them  asunder,  thus 
producing  the  fissures  and  dislocation  for  which 
the  eastern  side  of  the  glacier  is  remarkable.  Too 
much  weight  must  not  be  attached  to  this  explanation 


340  OBSERVATIONS   ON   THE   MER   DE   GLACE.         [1867 

It  was  one  of  those  suggestions  which  are.  perpetu- 
ally thrown  out  by  men  of  science  during  the 
course  of  an  investigation,  and  the  fulfilment  or 
non-fulfilment  of  which  cannot  materially  affect 
the  merits  of  the  investigator.  Indeed,  the  merits 
of  Forbes  must  be  judged  on  far  broader  grounds. 
The  qualities  of  mind  and  the  physical  culture 
invested  in  his  'Travels  in  the  Alps'  are  such  aa 
to  make  it,  in  the  estimation  of  the  physical  in- 
vestigator at  least,  outweigh  all  other  books  upon 
'ihe  subject. 

"While  thu^  acknowledging  its  merits,  however, 
let  a  free  and  frank  comparison  of  its  statements 
with  facts  be  instituted.  To  test  whether  the 
Glacier  du  Geant  moved  more  quickly  than  its 
fellows,  five  different  lines  were  set  out  across  the 
Mer  de  Glace,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Montanvert. 
In  each  case  it  was  found  that  the  point  of  swiftest 
motion  did  not  lie  upon  the  Glacier  du  Geant  at 
all,  but  was  displaced  so  as  to  bring  it  compara- 
tively close  to  the  eastern  side  of  the  glacier.  But 
though  the  special  opinion  of  Forbes  just  referred 
to  here  falls  to  the  ground,  the  deviation  of  the 
point  of  swiftest  motion  from  the  centre  of  the 
glacier  will  probably,  when  its  cause  is  pointed  out, 
be  regarded  as  of  special  importance  to  his  theory. 

At  the  place  where  these  five  lines  were  run 
across  it  the  glacier  turns  its  convex  curvature  to 


1867]         OBSEKVAliONS   ON   THE   MER   DE   GLACE.  341 

the  eastern  side  of  the  valley,  being  concave  towards 
the  Montanvert.  Let  us  then  tske  a  bolder  analogy 
than  even  that  suggested  in  the  explanation  of 
Forbes,  where  he  compares  the  Glacier  du  Geant  to 
a  strong  and  swiftly  flowing  river.  Let  us  enquire 
how  a  river  would  behave  in  sweeping  round  a  curve 
similar  to  that  here  existing.  The  point  of  swiftest 
motion  would  undoubtedly  lie  on  that  side  of  the 
centre  of  the  stream  towards  which  it  turns  its 
convex  curvature.  Can  this  be  the  case  with  the 
trimk  of  the  Mer  de  Glace  ?  If  so,  then  we  ought 
to  have  a  shifting  of  the  point  of  maximum  motion 
towards  the  eastern  side  of  the  valley,  when  the 
curvature  of  the  glacier  so  changes  as  to  turn  its 
convexity  to  the  western  side. 

Now,  such  a  change  of  flexure  actually  occurs 
opposite  the  passages  called  Les  Fonts,  and  at  this 
place  the  view  just  enunciated  was  tested.  It  was 
immediately  ascertained  that  the  point  of  swiftest 
motion  here  lay  at  a  different  side  of  the  axis  from 
that  observed  lower  down.  But  to  confer  strict 
numerical  accuracy  upon  the  result,  stakes  were 
fixed  at  certain  distances  from  the  western  side  of 
the  glacier,  and  others  at  equal  distances  from  the 
eastern  side.  The  velocities  of  these  stakes  were 
compared  with  each  other,  two  by  two,  a  stake  on 
the  western  side  being  always  compared  with  a 
Becond  one  which  stood  at  the  same  distance  from 


342  OBSEHVATIONS   on   the   MER  DE   glace.        [1857 

the  eastern  side.  The  results  of  this  measurement 
are  given  in  the  following  table,  the  numbers 
denoting  inches : 


1st  pair 

2nd  pair 

3rd  pair 

4th  pair 

fithpair 

West 

.       15 

17i 

22  J- 

'23'i 

23i 

Ikst 

.       12i 

15i 

15| 

m 

in 

It  is  here  seen  that  in  each  case  the  luestern 
stake  moved  more  swiftly  than  its  eastern  fellow 
stake  ;  thus  proving,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  opposite 
the  Fonts  the  western  side  of  the  Mer  de  Glace 
moves  swiftest — a  result  precisely  the  reverse  of 
that  observed  where  the  curvature  of  the  valley  was 
different. 

But  an  additional  test  of  the  explanation  is 
possible.  Between  the  Fonts  and  the  promontory 
of  Trelaporte  the  glacier  passes  anotlier  point  of 
contrary  flexure,  its  convex  curvature  opposite  to 
Trelaporte  being  turned  towards  the  base  of  the 
Aiguille  du  Moine,  on  the  eastern  side.  A  series  of 
stakes  was  placed  across  the  glacier  here ;  and  the 
velocities  of  those  placed  at  certain  distances  from 
the  western  side  were  compared,  as  before,  with 
those  of  stakes  placed  at  the  same  distances  from 
the  eastern  side.  The  following  table  shows  the 
result  of  these  measurements ;  the  numbers,  aa 
before,  denote  inches : 


1st  pair 

2nd  pair 

3rd  pair 

. 

.     12J 

15 

m 

. 

.     14J 

17J 

19 

1857] 


OBSERVATIONS    ON    THE    MBR   DE    GLACE. 


343 


Here  we  find  that  in  each  case  the  eastern  stake 
moved  faster  than  its  fellow.  The  point  of  maxi- 
mum motion  has  therefore  once  more  crossed  the 
axis  of  the  glacier. 

Determining  the  point  of  maximum  motion  for  a 
great  number  of  transverse  sections  of  the  Mer  de 
Glace,  and  uniting  these  points,  we  have  what  is 
called  the  locus  of  the  point.  The  dotted  line  in 
the  annexed  figure  represents  the  centre  of  the 
Mer  de  Glace;  the  hard  line  which  crosses  the 
axis  of  the  glacier  at  the  points  a  A  is  then  the 
locus  of  the  point  of  swiftest  motion.     It  is  a  curve 


Tig.  1. 


more  deeply  sinuous  than  the  valley  itself,  and  it 
crosses  the  central  line  of  the  valley  at  each  point 
of  contrary  flexure.  The  position  of  towns  upon 
the  banks  of  rivers  is  usually  on  the  convex  side  of 
the  stream,  where  the  rush  of  the  water  renders 
silting-up  impossible ;  and  the  same  law  which 
regulated  the  flow  of  the  Thames,  and  determined 
the  position  of  the  towns  upon  its  banks,  is  at  this 
moment  operating  with  silent  energy  among  the 
Alpine  glaciers. 


344  OBSERYATIONS  ON   THE  MER   DE   GLACE.        [185? 

Another  peculiarity  of  glacier  motion  is  now  to 
be  noticed. 

Before  any  observations  had  been  made  upon  the 
subject,  it  was  surmised  by  Prof.  Forbes  that  the 
portions  of  a  glacier  near  its  bed  were  retarded  by 
friction  against  the  latter.  This  view  was  after- 
wards confirmed  by  his  own  observations,  and  by 
tJiose  of  M.  Martins.  Nevertheless  the  state  of 
our  knowledge  upon  the  subject  rendered  further 
confirmation  of  the  fact  highly  desirable.  A  rare 
opportunity  for  testing  the  question  was  furnished 
in  1857  by  an  almost  vertical  precipice  of  ice, 
constituting  the  side  of  the  Glacier  du  Geant, 
exposed  near  the  Tacul.  The  precipice  was  about 
140  feet  in  height.  At  the  top  and  near  the  bottom 
stakes  were  fixed,  and  by  hewing  steps  in  the  ice 
I  succeeded  in  fixing  a  stake  in  the  face  of  the 
precipice  at  a  point  about  forty  feet  above  the  base.' 
After  the  lapse  of  a  sufficient  number  of  days,  the 
progress  of  the  three  stakes  was  measured ;  reduced 
to  the  diurnal  rate,  the  motion  was  as  follows : 


Top  stake     . 

.     COO  inches. 

Middle  stake 

.     4-59       „ 

Bottom  stake 

.     2-56       „ 

We  thus  see  that  the  top  stake  moved  with  more 

'  It  was  here  that  my  prudent  guide,  Edouard  Simon,  dcninndcd, 
'Est-ce  que  vous  avcz  una  femme?'  and,  when  I  replied  in  the 
negative,  added,  'Vous  serez  tui  tout  de  meme.' 


1857]         OBSERVATIONS   ON   THE   MER   DE   GLACE.  345 

than  twice  the  velocity  of  the  bottom  one,  while  the 
velocity  of  the  middle  stake  lies  between  the  two. 
But  it  also  appears  that  the  augmentation  of  velocity 
upwards  is  not  proportional  to  the  distance  from  the 
bottom,  but  increases  in  a  quicker  ratio.  At  a 
height  of  100  feet  from  the  bottom,  the  velocity 
would  undoubtedly  be  practically  the  same  as  at 
the  surface.  Measurements  made  upon  an  adjacent 
ice-clifif  proved  this.  We  thus  see  the  perfect 
validity  of  the  reason  assigned  by  Forbes  for  the 
continued  verticality  of  the  walls  of  transverse 
crevasses.  Indeed  a  comparison  of  the  result  with 
his  anticipations  and  reasonings  will  prove  alike 
their  sagacity  and  their  truth. 

The  most  commanding  view  of  the  Mer  de  Glace 
and  its  tributaries  is  obtained  from  a  point  above 
the  remarkable  cleft  in  the  mountain-range  under- 
neath the  Aiguille  de  Charmoz,  which  is  sure  to 
attract  the  attention  of  an  observer  standing  at  the 
Montanvert.  This  point,  marked  Gr  on  the  map  of 
Forbes,  I  succeeded  in  attaining.  A  Tiibingen 
Professor  once  visited  the  glaciers  of  Switzerland, 
and  seeing  these  apparently  rigid  masses  enclosed  in 
sinuous  valleys,  went  home  and  wrote  a  book,  flatly 
denying  the  possibility  of  their  motion.  An  inspec- 
tion from  the  point  now  referred  to  would  have 
doubtless  confirmed  him  in  his  opinion  ;  and  indeed 
nothing    can   be   more   calculated   to   impress   the 


346  OBSERYATIONS   ON   THE   MER   DE    GLACE.        [1857 

mind  with  the  magnitude  of  the  forces  brought  into 
play  than  the  squeezing  of  the  three  tributaries  of 
the  Mer  de  Glace  through  the  neck  of  the  valley  at 
Trelaporte. 

But  let  me  state  numerical  results.  Previous 
to  its  junction  with  its  fellows,  the  Glacier  du  Geant 
measures  1,134  yards  across.  Before  it  is  influenced 
by  the  thrust  of  the  Talefre,  the  Glacier  de  Lechaud 
has  a  width  of  825  yards ;  while  the  width  of  the 
Talefre  branch  across  the  base  of  the  cascade,  before 
it  joins  the  Lechaud,  is  approximately  638  yards. 
The  sum  of  these  widths  is  2,597  yards.  At  Tre- 
laporte those  three  branches  are  forced  througli  a 
gorge  893  yards  wide,  with  a  central  velocity  of 
20  inches  a  day !  The  result  is  still  more  astonisli- 
ing  if  we  confine  our  attention  to  one  of  the  tribu- 
taries— that  of  the  Lechaud.  This  broad  ice-river, 
which  before  its  junction  with  the  Talefre  has  a 
width  of  825  yards,  at  Trelaporte  is  squeezed  to  a 
driblet  of  less  than  88  yards  in  width,  that  is  to  say, 
to  about  one-tenth  of  its  previous  horizontal  trans- 
verse dimension. 

Whence  is  the  force  derived  whicli  drives  the 
glacier  through  the  gorge  ?  No  doubt  pressure 
from  behind.  Other  facts  also  suggest  that  the 
Glacier  du  Geant  is  throughoiit  its  length  in  a 
state  of  forcible  longitudinal  compression.  Taking 
a  series  of  points  along  the  axis  of  tliis  glacier — if 


1857]         OBSERVATIONS   ON   THE  MER  DB   GLACE.  347 

these  points,  during  the  descent  of  the  glacier, 
preserved  their  distances  asunder  perfectly  constant, 
there  could  be  no  longitudinal  compression.  The 
mechanical  meaning  of  this  term,  as  applied  to  a 
substance  capable  of  yielding  like  ice,  must  be  that 
the  hinder  points  are  incessantly  advancing  upon 
the  forward  ones.  I  was  particularly  anxious  to  test 
this  view,  which  first  occurred  to  me  on  a  priori 
grounds.  Three  points,  A,  B,  C,  were  therefore 
fixed  upon  the  axis  of  the  Grlacier  du  Geant,  A  being 
the  highest  up  the  glacier.  The  distance  between 
A  and  B  was  545  yards,  and  that  between  B  and  C 
was  487  yards.  The  daily  velocities  of  these  three 
points,  determined  by  the  theodolite,  were  as  fol- 
lows: 

A    .         .         .     20'5o  inches. 

B     .         .         .     15-43 

C     .         .         .     12-7.')       „ 

The  result  completely  corroborates  the  foregomg 
anticipation.  The  hinder  points  are  incessantly 
advancing  upon  those  in  front,  and  that  to  an 
extent  sufficient  to  shorten  a  segment  of  this  glacier, 
measuring  1,000  yards  in  length,  at  the  rate  of 
8  inches  a  day.  Were  this  rate  uniform  at  all 
seasons,  the  shortening  would  amount  to  240  feet  in 
a  year.  When  we  consider  the  compactness  of  this 
glacier,  and  the  uniformity  in  the  width  of  the 
valley  which  it  tills,  this  result  cannot  fail  to  excite 


34S  OBSERVATIONS   ON   THE    MER   DE    GLACE.         [1857 

surprise  ;  and  the  exhibition  of  force  thus  rendered 
manifest  must  be  mainly  instrumental  in  driving 
the  glacier  through  the  jaws  of  the  granite  vice  at 
Trelaporte. 

When  the  Grlacier  du  Geant  is  observed  from  a 
sufl&cient  distance,  a  remarkable  system  of  seams  of 
white  ice  appears  to  sweep  across  it,  in  the  direction 
of  the  '  dirt-bands.'  These  seams  are  more  resistant 
than  the  ordinary  ice  of  the  glacier,  and  sometimes 
protrude  above  the  surface  to  a  height  of  three 
or  four  feet.  Their  origin  was  for  some  time  a 
difficulty,  and  it  was  at  the  base  of  the  ice-cascade 
which  descends  from  the  basin  of  the  Talefre  that 
the  key  to  their  solution  first  presented  itself.  It 
was  well  known  that  the  ice  of  a  glacier  is  not  of 
homogeneous  structure,  but  that  the  general  more 
or  less  milky  mass  is  traversed  by  blue  veins  of  a 
more  compact  and  transparent  texture.  In  the 
upper  portions  of  the  Mer  de  Glace  these  veins 
sweep  across  the  glacier  in  gentle  curves,  leaning 
forward — to  whicli  leaning  forward  Prof.  Forbes 
gave  the  name  of  the  'frontal  dip.'  A  case  of 
'backward  dip'  has  never  been  described.  But  at 
the  base  of  the  ice-cascade  referred  to  I  liad  often 
noticed  the  veins  exposed  upon  the  walls  of  a 
longitudinal  crevasse  leaning  backwards  and  for- 
wards on  both  sides  of  a  vertical  line,  like  the 
joints  of  stones  used  to  turn  an  arch. 


1857]         OBSERVATIONS   ON    THE   MEB   DE   GLACE.  349 

Tliis  fact  was  found  to  connect  itself  in  the  follow- 
ing way  with  the  general  state  of  the  glacier.  At 
the  base  of  the  ice-fall  a  succession  of  protuberances, 
with  steep  frontal  slopes,  followed  each  other,  and 
were  intersected  by  crevasses.  Let  the  hand  be 
placed  flat  upon  the  table,  with  the  palm  down- 
wards ;  let  the  fingers  be  bent  so  as  to  render  the 
space  between  the  joints  nearest  the  nails  and  the 
ends  of  the  fingers  nearly  vertical.  Let  the  second 
hand  be  now  placed  upon  the  back  of  the  first,  with 
its  fingers  bent  as  in  the  former  case,  and  their 
ends  resting  upon  the  roots  of  the  first  fingers.  The 
crumpling  of  the  hands  fairly  represents  the  crump- 
ling of  the  ice,  and  the  spaces  between  the  fingers 
represent  the  crevasses  by  which  the  protuberances 
are  intersected.  On  the  walls  of  these  crevasses  the 
change  of  dip  of  the  veined  structure  above  referred 
to  was  always  observed,  and  at  the  base  of  each  pro- 
tuberance a  vein  of  white  ice  was  found  firmly 
wedged  into  the  mass  of  the  glacier. 

The  next  figure  represents  a  series  of  these  crumples 
with  the  veins  of  white  ice  iii  at  their  bases. 

It  was  soon  observed  that  the  water  which  trickled 
down  the  protuberances,  and  gushed  here  and  there 
from  glacier  orifices,  collected  at  the  bases  of  the 
crumples,  and  formed  streams  which  cut  for  them- 
selves deep  channels  in  the  ice.  These  streams 
seemed  to  be  the  ejcact  matrices  or  moulds  of  th§ 

16 


350  OBSERVATIONS   ON    THE   MER   DE   GLACE.         [1857 

veins  of  white  ice,  and  the  latter  were  finally  traced 
to  the  gorging  up  of  the  channels  of  glacial  rivulets 
by  winter  snow.  The  same  explanation  applies  to 
the  system  of  bands  upon  the  Glacier  du  Geant.  I 
was  enabled  to  trace  the  little  arms  of  white  ice 
which  once  were  the  tributaries  of  the  streams,  to 
see  a  trunk  vein  of  the  ice  dividing  into  branches, 
and  uniting  again  so  as  to  enclose  glacial  islands.  I 
finally  traced  them  to  the  region  of  their  formation. 


and  by  sketches  of  existing  streams  taken  near  the 
base  of  the  seracs,  and  of  bands  of  wliite  ice  taken 
lower  down,  a  resemblance  so  striking  was  exhibited 
as  to  leave  no  doubt  of  their  relationship.  On  the 
walls  of  some  deep  crevasses,  moreover,  which 
intersected  the  white  ice-seams,  I  found  that  the 
latter  penetrated  the  glacier  only  to  a  limited 
depth,  having  tlie  appearance  of  a  kind  of  glacial 
'trap*  intruded  from  above. 


857]         OBSERVATIONS   ON    THE    MEU    DE    GLACE.  354 

But  how  is  the  backward  dip  of  the  blue  veins  to 
be  accounted  for  ?  Doubtless  in  the  following  way : 
At  the  base  of  the  cascade  the  glacier  is  forcibly 
compressed  by  the  thrust  of  the  mass  behind  it; 
besides  this,  it  changes  its  inclination  suddenly  and 
considerably;  it  is  bent  upwards,  and  the  conse- 
quence of  this  bending  is  a  system  of  wrinkles,  such 
as  those  represented  in  the  next  iigure.  The  in- 
terior of  a  bent  umbrella-handle  sometimes  presents 
wrinkles  which  are  the  representatives,  in  little,  of 
the  protuberances  upon  the  glacier.  The  coat-sleeve 
is  an  equally  instructive  illustration  :  when  the  arm 


nrm 


is  bent  at  the  elbow  the  sleeve  wrinkles,  and  as  the 
places  where  these  wrinkles  occur  in  the  cloth  are 
determined,  to  some  extent,  by  the  previous  creasing, 
so  also  the  places  where  the  wrinkles  are  formed 
upon  the  glacier  are  determined  by  the  previous 
scarring  of  the  ice  during  its  descent  down  the 
cascade.  The  manner  in  which  these  crumples  tend 
to  scale  off  speaks  strongly  in  favour  of  the  ex- 
planation given.     The  following  figm-e  represents  a 


352  OBSERVATIONS   ON   THE   MER   DE   GLACE.        [1867 

type  of  numercus  instances  of  scaling  ofiF.  By  means 
of  a  hydraulic  press  it  is  easy  to  produce  a  perfectly 
•similar  scaling  in  small  masses  of  ice.  One  conse- 
quence of  this  crumpling  of  the  glacier  would  be 
the  backward  and  forward  inclination  of  the  veins 


as  actually  observed.  The  same  appearance  was 
noticed  on  the  wrinkles  of  the  Glacier  du  Geant. 
It  was  also  proved,  by  measurements,  that  these 
wrinkles  shorten  as  they  descend. 

In  virtue  of  what  quality,  then,  can  ice  be  bent  and 
squeezed,  and  have  its-  form  changed  in  the  manner 
indicated  in  the  foregoing  observations  ?  The  only 
theory  worthy  of  serious  consideration  at  the  pre- 
sent day  is  the  celebrated  Viscous  Theory  of  glacial 
motion.  Numerous  appearances,  as  we  have  seen, 
favour  the  idea  that  ice  is  a  viscous  or  '  semi-fluid ' 
substance,  and  that  it  flows  as  such  in  the  glaciers 
of  the  Alps.  The  aspect  of  many  glaciers,  as  a  whole 
— their  power  of  closing  up  crevasses,  and  of  recon- 
structing themselves  after  having  been  precipitated 
down   glacial    gorges — the    obvious   bendings   and 


1857]         OBSERVATIONS   ON   THE   MBK   DE    GLACE.  3 '3 

contortions  of  various  portions  of  the  ice,  are  all  in 
harmony  with  the  notion.  The  laminar  structure 
of  the  glacier  has  also  been  regarded  by  eminent 
authorities  as  a  crucial  test  in  favour  of  the  viscous 
theory,  and  affirmed  to  be  impossible  of  explanation 
*on  any  other  hypothegis. 

Nevertheless,  this  theory  is  so  directly  opposed  to 
our  ordinary  experience  of  the  nature  of  ice  as  to 
leave  upon  the  mind  a  lingering  doubt  of  its  truth. 
Can  we  imitate  the  phenomena  without  invoking  the 
explanation  ?  We  can.  Moulds  of  various  forms 
were  hollowed  out  in  boxwood,  and  pieces  of  ice 
were  placed  in  these  moulds  and  subjected  to  pres- 
sure. In  this  way  spheres  of  ice  were  flattened  into 
cakes,  and  cakes  formed  into  transparent  lenses.  A 
straight  bar  of  ice,  six  inches  long,  was  passed 
through  a  series  of  moulds  augmenting  in  curvature, 
and  was  finally  bent  into  a  semiring.  A  small 
block  of  ice  was  placed  in  a  hemispherical  cavity, 
and  was  pressed  upon  by  a  hemispherical  protube- 
rance, not  large  enough  to  fill  the  cavity;  the  ice 
yielded  and  filled  the  space  'between  both,  thus 
fonning  itself  into  a  transparent  cup.  The  speci- 
mens of  ice  here  employed  were  so  exceedingly 
brittle  that  a  pricker  driven  into  the  ice  was  com- 
petent to  split  blocks  of  the  substance  eight  cubic 
feet  in  volume,  the  surface  of  fracture  being  in  all 
cases  as  clean  and  sharp  as  that  of  glass. 


354  OBSERVATIONS  ON   THE   MER   DE   GLACE.        [1857 

These  experiments,  then,  demonstrate  a  capacity 
on  the  part  of  small  masses  of  ice  which  they  have 
not  been  hitherto  known  to  possess.  They  prove,  to 
all  appearance,  that  the  substance  is  much  more 
plastic  than  it  was  ever  imagined  to  be.  But  the 
real  germ  from  which  these  results  have  sprung  is 
to  be  found  in  a  lecture  given  at  the  Eoyal  Institu- 
tion in  June  1850,  and  reported  in  the  'Athenaeum' 
and  '  Literary  Gazette  '  for  that  year.  Faraday  then 
showed  that  when  two  pieces  of  ice,  at  a  tempera- 
ture of  32°  Fahr.,  are  placed  in  contact  with  each 
other,  they  freeze  together,  by  the  conversion  of  the 
film  of  moisture  between  them  into  ice.  The  case 
of  a  snowball  is  a  familiar  illustration  of  the  prin- 
ciple. WTien  the  snow  is  below  32°,  and  therefore 
dry^  it  will  not  cohere,  whereas  when  it  is  in  a 
thawing  condition  it  can  be  squeezed  into  a  hard 
mass.  During  one  of  the  hottest  days  of  July  1857, 
when  the  thermometer  was  upwards  of  100°  Fahr.  in 
the  sun,  and  more  than  80°  in  the  shade,  I  observed 
a  number  of  blocks  of  ice,  which  had  been  placed 
in  a  heap,  frozen  together  at  their  places  of  contact ; 
and  I  afterwards  caused  them  to  freeze  together  under 
water  as  hot  as  the  hand  coidd  bear.  Facts  like 
these  suggested  the  thought  that  if  a  piece  of 
ice — a  straight  prism,  for  example — were  placed  in 
a  bent  mould  and  subjected  to  pressure  it  would 
break,    but   that    the   force    would    also    bring    its 


i857]         OBSERVATIONS   ON   THE   MER  DE   GLACE.  355 

ruptured  surfaces  into  contact,  and  thus  the  con- 
tinuity of  the  mass  might  be  re-established.  Ex- 
periment, as  we  have  seen,  completely  confirmed 
this  surmise :  the  ice  passed  from  a  continuous 
straight  bar  to  a  continuous  bent  one,  the  transition 
being  effected,  not  by  a  viscous  movement  of  the 
particles,  but  through  fracture  and  regelation. 

Let  the  transition  from  curve  to  curve  be  only 
gradual  enough,  and  we  have  the  exact  case  of  a 
transverse  slice  of  a  glacier. 

All  the  phenomena  of  motion,  on  which  the  idea  of 
viscosity  has  been  based,  are  brought  by  such  experi- 
ments as  the  above  into  harmony  with  the  demon- 
strable properties  of  ice.  In  virtue  of  this  property, 
the  glacier  accommodates  itself"  to  its  bed  while  pre- 
serving its  general  continuity,  crevasses  are  closed 
up,  and  the  broken  ice  of  a  cascade,  such  as  that  of 
the  Talefre  or  the  Rhone,  is  recompacted  to  a  solid 
continuous  mass. 

The  very  essence  of  viscosity  is  the  ability  of 
yielding  to  a, force  of  tension,  the  texture  of  the  sub- 
stance, after  yielding,  being  in  a  state  of  equilibrium, 
so  that  it  has  no  strain  to  recover  from;  and  the 
substances  chosen  by  Prof.  Forbes  as  illustrative 
of  the  physical  condition  of  a  glacier  possess  this 
power  of  being  drawn  out  in  a  very  eminent  degree. 
But  it  has  been  urged,  and  justly  urged,  that  we 


356  OBSERVATIONS   ON    THE   MER   DE   GLACE.         [185? 

ought  not  to  conclude  that  viscosity  is  absent 
because  hand  specimens  are  brittle,  any  more  than 
we  ought  to  conclude  that  ice  is  not  blue  because 
small  fragments  of  the  substance  do  not  exhibit 
this  colour.  To  test  the  question  of  viscosity,  then, 
we  must  appeal  to  the  glacier  itself.  Let  us  do  so. 
An  analogy  between  the.  motion  of  a  glacier 
through  a  sinuous  valley  and  of  a  river  in  a  sinuous 
channel  has  been  already  pointed  out.  But  the 
analogy  fails  in  one  important  particular :  the  river, 
and  much  more  so  a  mass  of  flowing  treacle,  honey, 
tar,  or  melted  caoutchouc,  sweeps  round  its  curves 
without  rupture  of  continuity.  The  viscous  mass 
stretches,  but  the  icy  mass  breaks,  and  the  '  excessive 
crevassing'  pointed  out  by  Prof.  Forbes  himself 
is  the  consequence.  The  inclinations  of  tlie  Mer 
de  Glace  and  its  three  tributaries  were,  moreover, 
taken,  and  the  association  of  transverse  crevasses 
with  the  changes  of  inclination  were  accurately 
noted.  Every  traveller  knows  the  utter  dislocation 
and  confusion  produced  by  the  descent  of  the  Mer 
de  Glace  from  the  Chapeau  downwards.  A  similar 
state  of  things  exists  in  the  ice-cascade  of  the 
Talefre.  Descending  from  the  Jardin,  as  the  ice 
approaches  the  fall,  great  transverse  chasms  are 
formed,  which  at  length  follow  each  other  so  speedily 
as  to  reduce  the  ice-masses  between  them  to  mere 
plates  and  wedges,  along  which  the  explorer  has  to 
creep  cuutiouslv-     These  plates  and  wedges  are  in 


1867]         OBSERVATIONS  ON   THE   MER   DE   GLACE.  357 

*Bome  cases  bent  and  crumpled  by  the  lateral  pressure, 
and  some  large  pyramids  are  turned  90"  round, 
so  as  to  have  their  veins  at  right  angles  to  the 
noi-mal  position.  The  ice  afterwards  descends  the 
fall,  the  portions  exposed  to  view  being  a  fantastic 
assemblage  of  frozen  boulders,  pinnacles,  and  towers, 
some  erect,  some  leaning,  falling  at  intervals  with  a 
sound  like  thunder,  and  crushing  the  ice-crags  on 
which  they  fall  to  powder.  The  descent  of  the  ice 
through  this  fall  has  been  referred  to  as  a  proof  of 
its  viscosity ;  but  the  description  just  given  does  not 
harmonise  with  our  ideas  of  a  viscous  substance. 

But  the  proof  of  the  non-viscosity  of  the  substance 
must  be  sought  at  places  where  the  change  of  incli- 
nation is  very  small.  Nearly  opposite  1' Angle  there 
is  a  change  from  four  to  nine  degrees,  and  the 
consequence  is  the  production  of  transverse  fissures 
which  render  the  glacier  here  perfectly  impassable. 
Further  up  the  glacier  transverse  crevasses  are  pro- 
duced by  a  change  of  inclination  from  three  to  five 
degrees.  This  change  of  inclination  is  protracted 
Fig.  5. 


in  fig.  5 ;  the  bend  occurs  at  the  point  b  ;  it  is 
scarcely  perceptible,  and  still  the  glacier  is  unable 
to  pass  over  it  without  breaking  across. 

Again,  the  crevasses  being  due  to  a  state  of  strain 
from  which  the  ice  relieves  itself  by  breaking,  the 


558  OBSERVATIONS   ON   THE   MER   DE   GLACE.        [1867 

rate  at  which  they  widen  may  be  taken  as  a  measure  < 
of  the  amount  of  relief  demanded  by  the  ice.  Both 
the  suddenness  of  their  formation  and  the  slowness 
with  which  they  widen  are  demonstrative  of  the 
non-viscosity  of  the  ice.  For  were  the  substance 
capable  of  stretching,  even  at  the  small  rate  at  which 
they  widen,  there  would  be  no  necessity  for  their 
formation. 

Further,  the  marginal  crevasses  of  a  glacier  are 
known  to  be  a  consequence  of  the  swifter  flow  of  its 
central  portions,  which  throws  the  sides  into  a  state 
of  strain  from  which  they  relieve  themselves  by 
breaking.  Now  it  is  easy  to  calculate  the  amount 
of  stretching  demanded  of  the  ice  in  order  to  ac- 
commodate itself  to  the  speedier  central  flow.  Take 
the  case  of  a  glacier  half  a  mile  wide.  A  straight 
transverse  element,  or  slice,  of  such  a  glacier,  is 
bent  in  twenty-four  hours  to  a  curve.  The  ends  of 
the  slice  move  a  little,  but  the  centre  moves  more : 
let  us  suppose  the  versed  side  of  the  curve  formed 
by  the  slice  in  twenty-four  hours  to  be  a  foot,  which 
is  a  fair  average.  Having  the  chord  of  this  arc,  and 
its  versed  side,  we  can  calculate  its  length.  In  the 
case  of  the  Mer  de  Glace,  which  is  about  half  a 
mile  wide,  the  amount  of  stretching  demanded 
would  be  about  the  eightieth  of  an  inch  in  twenty- 
four  hours.  Surely,  if  the  glacier  possessed  a  pro- 
perty which  could  with  any  propriety  be  called 
viscosity,  it   ouglit  to  be  able   to  respond  to  thi» 


1857]        OBSERVATIOISS    ON   THE   MER   DE   GLACE.  359 

moderate  demand ;  but  it  is  not  able  to  do  so  : 
instead  of  stretching  as  a  viscous  body,  in  obedience 
to  this  slow  strain,  it  breaks  as  an  eminently  fragile 
Dne,  and  marginal  crevasses  are  the  consequence. 
It  may  be  urged  that  it  is  not  fair  to  distribute  the 
strain  over  the  entire  length  of  the  curve :  but  re- 
duce the  distance  as  we  may,  a  residue  must  remain, 
which  is  demonstrative  of  the  non-viscosity  of  the  ice. 
To  sum  up,  then,  two  classes  of  facts  present 
themselves  to  the  glacier  investigator — one  class  in 
harmony  with  the  idea  of  viscosity,  and  another  as 
distinctly  opposed  to  it.  Where  pressure  comes 
into  play  we  have  the  former  ;  where  tension  comes 
into  play  we  have  the  latter.  Both  classes  of  facts 
are  reconciled  by  the  assumption,  or  rather  the 
experimental  verity,  that  the  fragility  of  ice 
and  its  power  of  regelation  render  it  possible  for 
it  to  change  its  form  without  prejudice  to  its 
continuity. 

[Very  interesting  experiments  upon  the  bending  of 
ice  have  been  recently  made  by  Mr.  Matthews  and 
Mr.  Froude.  In  these  experiments  the  temperature 
of  the  ice,  I  believe,  was  some  degrees  below  the 
freezing  point:  it  would  be  important  to  repeat 
these  experiments  with  ice  at  the  temperature 
which  it  actually  possesses  in  glaciers,  namely,  at 
32'.— April  1871.] 


360  STRUCTURE    AND   PROPERTIES   OF   ICE.  fl857 


II. 

STRUCTURE  AND  PROPERTIES   OF  ICE. 

Being  desirous  of  examining  liow  the  interior  of  a 
mass  of  ice  is  affected  by  a  beam  of  radiant  heat 
sent  through  it,  I  availed  myself  of  the  sunny 
weather  of  September  and  October  1857.  The 
sunbeams,  condensed  by  a  lens,  were  sent  in  various 
directions  through  slabs  of  ice.  The  path  of  every 
beam  was  observed  to  be  instantly  studded  with 
lustrous  spots,  which  increased  in  magnitude  and 
niunber  as  the  action  continued.  On  examining 
the  spots  more  closely,  they  were  found  to  be 
flattened  spheroids,  and  around  each  of  them  the  ice 
was  so  liquefied  as  to  form  a  beautiful  flower-shaped 
figure  possessing  six  petals.  From  tliis  number  there 
was  no  deviation.  At  first  the  edges  of  the  liquid 
leaves  were  unindented ;  but  a  continuance  of  the 
action  usually  caused  the  edges  to  become  serrated 
like  those  of  feriis.  When  the  ice  was  caused  to 
move  across  the  beam,  or  when  the  beam  was  caused 
to  traverse  different  portions  of  the  ice  in  succession, 
the  sudden  generation  and  crowding  together  of 
these  liquid  flowers,  with  their  central  spots  shining 


1857]  STRUCTUKE    AND    PROPERTIES   OF   ICE.  361 

with  more  than  metallic  brilliancy,  was  exceedingly 
beautiful. 

In  almost  all  cases  the  flowers  were  formed  in 
planes  parallel  to  the  surface  of  freezing ;  it  mat- 
tered not  whether  the  beam  traversed  the  ice 
parallel  to  this  surface  or  perpendicular  to  it. 
Some  apparent  exceptions  to  this  rule  were  found, 
which  will  form  the  subject  of  future  investigation. 

The  general  appearance  of  the  shining  spots  at 
the  centres  of  the  flowers  was  that  of  the  bubbles  of 
air  entrapped  in  the  ice  ;  to  examine  whether  they 
contained  air  or  not,  portions  of  ice  containing  them 
were  immersed  in  warm  water.  When  the  ice  sur- 
rounding the  cavities  had  completely  melted,  the 
latter  instantly  collapsed,  and  no  trace  of  air  rose  to 
the  surface  of  the  water.  A  vacuum,  therefore,  had 
been  formed  at  the  centre  of  each  spot,  due,  doubt- 
less, to  the  well-known  fact  that  the  volume  of 
water  in  each  flower  was  less  than  that  of  the  ice, 
by  the  melting  of  which  the  flower  was  produced. 

The  associated  air-and-water  cells,  found  in  such 
numbers  in  the  ice  of  glaciers,  and  also  observed  in 
lake  ice,  were  next  examined.  Two  hypotheses  have 
been  started  to  account  for  these  cells.  One  at- 
tributes them  to  the  absorption  of  the  sun's  heat  by 
the  air  of  the  bubbles,  and  the  consequent  melting 
of  the  ice  which  surrounds  them.  The  other 
hypothesis  supposes   that   the    liquid  in   the   cells 


362  STRUCTURE   AND   PROPERTIES   OF   ICB.  [1867 

never  has  been  frozen,  but  has  continued  in  the 
liquid  condition  from  the  nev6  or  origin  of  the 
glacier  downwards.  Now  if  the  water  in  the  cells 
be  due  to  the  melting  of  the  ice,  the  associated  air 
must  be  rare/led,  because  the  volume  of  the  liquid 
is  less  than  that  of  the  ice  which  produced  it; 
whereas  if  the  air  be  simply  that  entrapped  in 
the  snow  of  the  neve,  it  will  not  be  thus  rarefied. 
Here,  then,  we  have  a  test  as  to  whether  the  water- 
cells  have  been  produced  by  the  melting  of  the  ice. 

Portions  of  ice  containing  these  compound  cells 
were  immersed  in  hot  water,  the  ice  around  the 
cavities  being  thus  gradually  melted  away.  When 
a  liquid  connexion  was  established  between  the 
bubble  and  the  atmosphere,  the  former  collapsed  to 
a  smaller  bubble.  In  many  cases  the  residual 
bubble  did  not  reach  the  hundredth  part  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  primitive  one.  There  was  no 
exception  to  this  rule,  and  it  proves  that  the  water 
of  these  particular  cavities,  at  all  events,  is  really 
due  to  the  melting  of  the  adjacent  ice. 

But  how  was  the  ice  surrounding  the  bubbles 
melted  ?  The  hypothesis  that  the  melting  is  due 
to  the  absorption  of  the  solar  rays  by  the  air  of  the 
bubbles  is  that  of  M.  Agassiz,  which  has  been  re- 
produced and  subscribed  to  by  the  Messrs.  Schla- 
gintweit,  and  accepted  generally  as  the  true  one. 
Let  us  pursue  it  to  its  consequences. 


1857]  STRUCTURE    AND    PROPERTIES   OF    ICE.  363 

Comparing  equal  weights  of  air  and  water, 
experiment  proves  that  to  raise  a  given  weight  of 
water  one  degree  in  temperature,  as  much  heat 
would  be  needed  as  would  raise  the  same  weight  of 
air  four  degrees. 

Comparing  equal  volumes  of  air  and  water,  the 
water  is  known  to  be  770  times  heavier  than  the 
air ;  consequently,  for  a  given  volume  of  air  to  raise 
an  equal  volume  of  water  one  degree  in  temperature, 
it  must  part  with  770  x  4  =  3080  degrees. 

Now  the  quantity  of  heat  necessary  to  melt  a 
given  weight  of  ice  would  raise  the  same  weight  of 
water  142*6  Fahr.  degrees  in  temperature.  Hence 
to  produce,  by  the  melting  of  ice,  an  amount  of 
water  equal  to  itself  in  bulk,  a  bubble  of  air  must 
yield  up  3080  x  142*6,  or  upwards  of  four  hundred 
thousand  degrees  Fahrenheit. 

This  is  the  amount  of  heat  which,  according 
to  the  hypothesis  of  M.  Agassiz  and  the  Messrs. 
Schlagintweit,  is  absorbed  by  the  bubble  of  air 
under  the  eyes  of  the  observer.  That  is  to  say,  the 
air  is  capable  of  absorbing  an  amount  of  heat  which, 
had  it  not  been  communicated  to  the  surrounding 
ice,  would  raise  the  bubble  to  a  temperature  160 
times  that  of  fused  cast  iron.  Did  air  possess  this 
enormous  power  of  absorption  it  would  not  be  with- 
out inconvenience  for  the  animal  and  vegetable  life 
of  our  planet. 


564  STKUCTURE   AND    PROPERTIES   OF    ICE.  [1867 

The  fact  is,  that  a  bubble  of  air  at  the  earth's 
surface  is  unable,  in  the  slightest  appreciable  degree, 
to  absorb  the  sun's  rays  ;  for  those  rays  before  they 
reach  the  earth  have  been  perfectly  sifted  by  their 
passage  through  the  atmosphere.  I  made  the 
following  experiment  illustrative  of  this  point :  The 
rays  from  an  electric  lamp  were  condensed  by  a  lens, 
and  the  concentrated  beam  sent  through  the  bulb 
of  a  dififerential  thermometer.  The  heat  of  the 
beam  was  intense  ;  still  not  the  slightest  effect  was 
produced  upon  the  thermometer.  In  fact,  all  the 
rays  that  air  could  absorb  had  been  absorbed  before 
the  thermometer  was  reached,  while  the  rays  that 
glass  could  absorb  had  been  absorbed  by  the  lens. 
The  heat  consequently  passed  through  the  thin 
glass  envelope  of  the  thermometer,  and  the  air 
within  it,  without  imparting  the  slightest  sensible 
heat  to  either. 

The  liquid  bubbles  observed  in  lake  ice,  and  those 
which  occur  in  the  deeper  portions  of  glacier  ice,  are 
produced  by  heat  which  has  been  conducted  through 
the  substance  without  melting  it.  Regarding  heat 
as  a  mode  of  motion,  it  seems  natural  to  infer,  that 
inasmuch  as  within  the  mass  each  molecule  is  con- 
trolled in  its  motion  by  the  surrounding  molecules, 
the  liberty  of  liquidity  must  be  attained  by  the 
molecules  at  the  surface  of  ice  before  the  molecules 
in  the  interior  can  attain  this   liberty.    But  if  a 


i857]  STRUCTURE    AND   PROrERTIES   OF    ICE.  365 

cavity  .exist  in  the  interior,  the  molecules  surround- 
ing that  cavity  are  in  a  condition  similar  to  those 
at  the  surface;  and  they  may  be  liberated  by  an 
amount  of  motion  which  has  been  transmitted 
through  the  ice  without  prejudice  to  its  solidity. 
The  conception  is  helped  when  we  call  to  mind  the 
transmission  of  motion  through  a  series  of  elastic 
balls,  by  which  the  last  ball  of  the  series  is  detached, 
while  the  others  do  not  suffer  visible  separation. 
It  may  indeed  be  proved,  by  actual  experiment, 
that  the  interior  portion  of  a  mass  of  ice  can  be 
liquefied  by  an  amount  of  heat  which  has  been 
conducted  through  the  exterior  portions  without 
melting  them. 

Now  precisely  the  converse  of  this  takes  place 
when  two  pieces  of  ice,  at  32°  Fahr.,  with  moist 
surfaces,  are  brought  into  contact.  Superficial 
portions  are  by  this  act  transferred  to  the  centre 
where  a  temperature  of  32°  is  not  quite  sufficient 
to  produce  liquefaction.  The  motion  of  liquidity 
which  the  surfaces  possessed  before  contact  is  now 
checked,  and  the  pieces  of  ice  freeze  together.  This 
appears  to  furnish  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  all 
the  cases  of  this  nature  which  have  hitherto  been 
observed. 

The  particles  of  a  crushed  mass  of  ice  at  32°,  or  a 
ball  of  moist  snow,  may,  it  is  now  well  known,  be 
squeezed  into  slabs  or  cups  of  ice.     That  moisture  is 


366  STRUCTURE    AND   PROPERTIES   OF   ICE.  [1857 

necessary  here,  and  that  the  same  agent  is  necessary 
in  the  conversion  of  snow  into  glacier  ice,  was  proved 
by  the  following  experiment.  A  ball  of  ice  was 
cooled  in  a  bath  of  solid  carbonic  acid  and  ether, 
and  thus  rendered  perfectly  dry.  Placed  in  a  suit- 
able mould,  and  subjected  to  hydraulic  pressure, 
the  ball  was  crushed ;  but  the  crushed  fragments 
remained  as  white  and  opaque  as  those  of  crushed 
glass.  The  particles,  while  thus  dry,  could  not  be 
squeezed  so  as  to  form  pellucid  ice,  which  is  so 
easily  obtained  when  the  compre,ssed  mass  is  at  a 
temperature  of  32°  Fahr. 


.8681  STRUCTURE   OF   GLACIERS.  367 


III. 

STRUCTURE  OF  GLACIERS. 

If  a  transparent  colourless  solid  be  reduced  to 
powder,  the  powder  is  white.  Thus  rock  crystal, 
rock  salt,  and  glass  in  powder  are  all  white.  A  glass 
jar,  partially  filled  with  a  solution  of  carbonate  of 
soda,  with  a .  little  gum  added  to  give  it  tenacity, 
presents,  on  the  addition  of  a  little  tartaric  acid,  the 
appearance  of  a  tall  white  column  of  foam.  In  all 
these  cases,  the  whiteness  and  the  opacity  are  due 
to  the  intimate  and  irregular  admixture  of  a  solid 
or  a  liquid  with  air  ;  in  like  manner  the  whiteness 
of  snow  is  due  to  the  mixture  of  air  and  transparent 
particles  of  ice. 

The  snow  falls  upon  mountain  eminences,  and, 
above  the  snow-line,  each  year  leaves  a  residue ;  the 
substance  thus  collects  in  layers,  forming  masses  of 
great  depth.  The  lower  portions  are  squeezed  by 
the  pressure  of  those  above  them,  and  a  gradual 
approach  to  ice  is  the  consequence.  The  air  being 
gradually  expelled,  the  transparency  of  the  substance 
augments  in  proportion. 


368  STRUCTURE    OF   GLACIERS.  [1858 

But  even  after  the  snow  has  been  squeezed  to 
hard  ice  in  the  upper  glacier  region,  it  always  con- 
tains a  large  amount  of  the  air  originally  entrapped 
in  the  snow.  The  air  is  distributed  through  the 
solid  in  the  form  of  bubbles,  which  give  the  ice  a 
milky  appearance.  At  the  lower  extremity  of  a 
glacier  the  ice,  as  everybody  knows,  is  blue  and 
transparent.  The  transition  from  one  state  to  the 
other  is  not,  in  all  cases,  a  gradual  change  which 
takes  place  uniformly  throughout  the  entire  mass. 
The  white  ice,  on  the  contrary,  of  the  middle 
glacier  region  is  usually  striped  by  veins  of  a  more 
transparent  character,  the  air  which  gives  to  the  ice 
its  whiteness  having  been,  by  some  means  or  other, 
wholly  or  partially  ejected  from  the  veins.  These 
veins  sometimes  give  the  ice  of  many  glaciers 
a  beautiful  laminated  appearance ;  vast  portions, 
indeed,  of  various  glaciers  consist  of  this  laminated 
ice. 

The  theory  of  the  veins  which  perhaps  first  pre- 
sents itself  to  the  mind,  and  which  is  still  enter- 
tained by  many  intelligent  Alpine  explorers,  is  that 
the  veining  of  the  middle  glaciers  is  simply  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  bedding  of  the  neve  ;  that  not  only 
do  the  annual  snow-falls  produce  beds  of  great 
thickness,  but  every  successive  fall  tends  to  produce 
a  layer  of  less  thickness,  which  layers,  or  the  surfaces 
Beparating  them,  ultimately  appear  as  the  blue  veins. 


1858]  STRUCTURE   OF   GLACIERS.  369 

This  theory  demands  respectful  consideration  : 
on  the  exposed  sections  of  the  neve  the  lines  of 
stratification  are  very  manifest,  exhibiting  in  many 
cases  appearances  strongly  resembling  that  of  the 
veined  structure.  Indeed,  it  was  with  a  view  to 
examine  this  subject  more  closely  that  I  withheld 
my  observations  on  the  structure  of  the  Mer  de 
Griace  in  1857,  and  betook  myself  once  more  to  the 
mountains  during  the  summer  of  1858.  My  desire 
at  that  time  was  to  settle  once  for  all  the  rival 
claims  of  the  only  two  theories  which  then  deserved 
serious  attention — namely,  those  of  pressure  and 
of  stratification. 

In  pursuance  of  this  idea,  I  first  visited  the  Lower 
glacier  of  Grindelwald,  one  of  the  most  accessible, 
and  at  the  same  time  most  instructive,  in  the  entire 
range  of  the  Alps.  Ascending  the  branch  of  this 
glacier  which  descends  from  the  Schreckhom,  the 
Strahleck,  and  the  Finsteraarhorn,  I  came  to  the 
base  of  an  ice-fall  which  forbade  further  advance. 
Quitting  the  glacier  here,  I  ascended  the  side  of 
the  flanking  mountain,  so  as  to  reach  a  point  from 
which  the  fall,  and  the  glacier  below  it,  are  dis- 
tinctly visible  ;  and  from  this  position  I  observed 
the  gradual  development  and  perfecting  of  the 
structure  at  the  base  of  the  fall.  On  the  middle  of 
the  fall  itself  no  trace  of  the  structure  was  manifest ; 
but  where  the  glacier  changed  its  inclination  at  the 


370  STRUCTURE   OF   GLACIERS.  [1868 

bottom,  being  bent  upwards  so  as  throw  its  surface 
into  a  state  of  intense  longitudinal  compression, 
the  blue  veins  first  made  their  appearance.  The 
base  of  the  fall  was  a  true  sti^cture  mill,  where 
the  transverse  veins  were  manufactured,  being  after- 
wards sent  forward,  giving  a  character  to  portions  of 
the  glacier  which  had  no  share  in  their  formation. 

I  afterwards  examined  the  fall  from  the  opposite 
side  of  the  valley,  and  corroborated  the  observations. 
It  is  difiicult,  in  words,  to  convey  the  force  of  the 
evidence  which  this  glacier  presents  to  the  observer 
who  sees  it ;  it  seems  in  fact  like  a  grand  laboratory 
experiment  made  by  Nature  herself  with  especial 
reference  to  the  point  in  question.  The  squeezing 
of  the  mass,  its  yielding  to  the  force  brought  to  bear 
upon  it,  its  wrinkling  and  scaling  off,  and  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  veins  at  the  exact  point  where  the 
pressure  begins  to  manifest  itself,  leave  no  doubt  on 
the  mind  that  pressure  and  structure  stand  to  each 
other  in  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect,  and  that 
the  stratification  could  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
phenomenon. 

I  subsequently  crossed  the  Strahleck,  descended 
tlie  glaciers  of  the  Aar,  crossed  the  Grimsel,  and 
examined  the  glacier  of  the  Rhone.  This  glacier 
has  also  its  grand  ice-fall.  In  company  with  Prof. 
Ramsay,  I  climbed  in  1858  the  precipices  flanking 
the    fall   at   the    Grimsel    side.      What   lias   been 


1868]  STRUCTDKE   OF   GLACIERS.  371 

stated  regarding  the  Grindelwald  ice-fall  is  true  of 
that  of  the  Khone ;  the  base  of  the  cascade  is  the 
raanufactory  of  the  structure ;  and,  as  all  the  ice 
has  to  pass  through  this  mill,  the  entire  mass  of  the 
glacier  from  the  base  of  the  fall  downwards  is  beau- 
tifully laminated. 

Descending  the  valley  of  the  Ehone  to  Viesch, 
I  went  thence  to  the  -^ggischhorn,  and  remained 
for  eight  days  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Grreat  Aletsch 
glacier  —  the  noblest  ice-stream  of  the  Alps.  A 
highly  intelligent  explorer  had  adduced  certain 
phenomena  of  this  glacier  as  an  evidence  against 
the  pressure  theory  of  the  veined  structure ;  and  I 
did  not  think  myself  justified  in  quitting  the  place 
until  I  had  perfectly  satisfied  myself  that  the  Aletsch 
not  only  presented  no  phenomena  at  variance  with  the 
pressure  theory,  but  exhibited  some  which  seemed 
fatal  to  the  theory  of  the  stratification. 

I  subsequently  proceeded  to  Zermatt,  and  spent 
ten  days  on  the  Eififelberg,  exploring  the  entire 
system  of  glaciers  between  Monte  Eosa  and  the 
Mont  Cervin.  These  glaciers  exhibit,  perhaps  in  a 
more  striking  manner  than  any  others  in  the  Alps, 
the  yielding  of  glacier  ice  when  subjected  to  intense 
pressure.  The  great  western  glacier  of  Monte  Eosa, 
the  Schwartze  glacier,  the  Trifti  glacier,  and  the  glv 
ciers  of  St.  Theodule,  are  first  spread  out  as  wide  and 
extensive  neves  over  the  breasts  of  the  mountains. 


372  STRUCTURE   OF  GLACIERS.  [1868 

They  move  down,  and  are  finally  forced  into  the 
valley  containing  the  trunk,  or  Gorner  glacier. 
Here  they  are  squeezed  to  narrow  strips,  which 
gradually  dwindle  in  width  until  they  form  driblets 
not  more  than  a  few  yards  across.  From  the 
Gromer  Grat,  or  from  the  summit  of  the  Riffelhorn, 
these  parallel  strips  of  glacier,  each  separated  from 
its  neighbour  by  a  medial  moraine,  present  a  most 
striking  and  instructive  appearance. 

The  structure  of  these  glaciers  was  carefully 
examined,  and  in  all  cases  as  I  travelled  from 
regions  where  the  pressure  was  feeble  to  others 
where  it  was  intense,  the  ice  changed  from  a  state 
almost,  if  not  entirely,  structui'eless,  to  one  in  which 
the  veiningwas  exhibited  in  great  perfection.  Each 
glacier,  for  example,  where  it  met  the  opposing 
mass  in  the  trunk  valley,  and  was  pressed  against 
the  latter  by  the  thrust  from  behind,  exhibited  a 
beautifully  developed  structure. 

Proofs  have  been  already  adduced  that  the  Glacier 
du  Geant  is  in  a  state  of  longitudinal  compression  ; 
it  has  also  been  shown  that  the  seams  of  white  ice 
which  intersect  this  glacier  are  due  to  tlie  filling  up 
of  the  channels  of  glacier  streams  by  snow,  and  the 
subsequent  compression  of  the  substance.  Here, 
then,  \ye  have  a  vast  ice-press  which  furnishes  us 
with  a  test  of  the  pressure  theory.  Both  in  1857 
and  1858  I  found  many  of  these  seams  of  white  ice 


858]  STRUCTURE   OF  GLACIERS.  373 

intersected  by  blue  veins  of  the  finest  and  most 
distinct  character,  their  general  direction  being  at 
right  angles  to  the  direction  of  pressure. 

But  the  notions  of  M.  Agassiz  as  to  the  turning 
up  of  the  strata  so  as  to  expose  their  edges  at  the 
surface,  and  the  acute  remarks  and  arguments  of 
Mr.  John  Ball  on  the  same  subject,  might  still 
cast  a  doubt  upon  the  pressure  theory,  by  suggesting 
a  possible,  though  extremely  improbable,  explanation 
of  the  structure  in  accordance  with  the  theory  of 
stratification. 

Hence  my  strong  desire  to  discover  some  crucial 
phenomenon  which  should  set  this  question  for  ever 
at  rest,  and  leave  no  room  for  doubt,  even  on  the 
minds  of  those  who  never  saw  a  glacier.  On 
Wednesday,  August  18,  I  was  fortunate  enough  to 
make  this  discovery  upon  the  Furgge  glacier. 

This  ice-field  spreads  out  as  an  almost  level  plain 
at  the  base  of  Mont  Cervin.  The  strata  pile  them- 
selves one  above  the  other  without  disturbance,  and 
hence  with  great  regularity.  The  ice  at  length 
reaches  a  brow,  over  which  it  is  precipitated,  form- 
ing in  its  descent  four  great  terraces,  and  shutting 
up  the  lower  valley  as  a  cul  de  sac.  When  I  reached 
this  place  huge  blocks  of  ice  stood,  like  rocking 
stones,  upon  the  topmost  ledge,  and  numbers,  which 
had  fallen,  had  been  caught  by  the  other  ledges, 
and  occupietj  very  thi'C'Vtemng  positions :  the  base 

17 


874  STRUCTURE   OF   GLACIERS.  [1858 

of  the  fall  was  cumbered  with  crushed  ice,  and  large 
boulders  of  the  substance  had  been  cast  a  consider- 
able way  down  the  glacier. 

On  the  faces  of  the  terraces  horizontal  lines  of 
stratification  were  shown  in  the  most  perfect  manner. 
Here  and  there  the  exertion  of  a  powerful  lateral 
squeeze  was  manifest,  causing  tht  beds  to  crumple, 
and  producing  numerous  faults.  Examining  the 
fall  from  a  distance  through  an  opera-glass,  I  thought 
I  could  discover  lines  of  veining  running  through 
the  strata,  at  a  high  angle,  exactly  as  the  planes  of 
cleavage  often  run  at  a  high  angle  to  the  bedding  of 
slate  rocks.  The  surface  of  the  ice  was,  however, 
weathered ;  and  I  was  unwilling  to  accept  an  obser- 
vation upon  such  a  cardinal  point  with  a  shade  of 
doubt  attached  to  it.  Leaving  my  field-glass  with  my 
guide,  who  was  to  give  me  warning  should  the  blocks 
overhead  give  way,  I  advanced  to  the  wall  of  ice, 
and  at  several  places  cut  away  with  my  axe  the 
weathered  superficial  portions.  Underneath  I  found 
the  true  veined  structure,  running  nearly  at  right 
angles  to  the  planes  of  stratification. 

I  afterwards  climbed  the  glacier  to  the  right,  and, 
as  I  ascended,  still  better  illustrations  of  the  co- 
existence of  the  structure  and  the  strata  than  those 
observed  upon  the  terraces  exhibited  tliemselves. 
The  ice  was  greatly  dislocated,  and  on  tlie  faces  of 


i808]  STRUCTURE    OF   GLACIERS.  375 

the  crevasses  the  beds  were  distinctly  shown,  with 
the  vevna  crossmg  them.  The  idea  that  the  veins 
could  be  due  to  the  turning  up  of  the  strata  is 
plainly  irreconcileable  with  these  observations. 

The  same  year  I  visited  the  Mer  de  Glace  and 
its  tributaries,  and  found  the  pressure  key  applic- 
able to  their  phenomena  also.  The  transverse 
structure  of  the  Glacier  du  Geant  is  formed  at  the 
base  of  the  seracs ;  that  of  the  Talefre  branch  of  the 
Mer  de  Glace  at  the  base  of  the  Talefre  ice-fall, 
where  the  change  of  inclination  and  the  thrust 
from  behind  produce  the  requisite  longitudinal  com- 
pression. I  have  akeady  had  occasion  to  remark 
upon  the  peculiar  dipping  of  the  structure,  and  the 
scaling-ofF  of  the  protuberances,  which  are  effects 
of  the  same  cause.  These  phenomena  are  exhibited 
at  the  base  of  all  the  ice-cascades. 

The  principal  kinds  of  structure  may  be  divided 
into  three  ;  as  follows  : 

1st,  Marginal  structure,  developed  by  pressure 
due  to  the  swifter  motion  of  the  centre  of  the 
glacier. 

2nd,  Longitudinal  structure,  due  to  mutual 
pressure  of  two  tributary  glaciers ;  the  structure 
here  is  parallel  to  the  medial  moraine  which  divides 
the  tributaries. 

3rd,  Transverse  structure,  produced  by  pressure 


376  STRUCTURE   OF   GLACIERS.  [1858 

due  to  the  change  of  inclination,  and  to  the  longi- 
tudinal thrust  endured  by  the  glacier  at  the  base 
of  an  ice-fall. 

The  lamination  of  a  glacier  is  a  peculiarly  inter- 
esting case  of  cleavage.  It  is  produced  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  lamination  of  slate  rock,  which  is 
known,  through  the  distortion  of  its  fossils,  to  have 
suffered  great  pressure  at  right  angles  to  the  planes 
of  cleavage. 


1865'  HELMHOLTZ   ON   ICE  AND   GLACIERS.  377 


rv. 

HELMHOLTZ  ON  ICE  AND   GLACIERS. 

Switzerland  has  attractions  for  the  scientific 
philosophers  of  Germany,  and  around  the  Titlis, 
Bunsen,  Helmholtz,  Kirchhoff,  and  Wiedemann  are 
not  unfamiliar  names.  Nor  have  their  visits  to  the 
Alps  been  unproductive  of  results.  Some  time  ago 
I  was  favoured  by  Professor  Helmholtz  with  the 
First  Part  of  his  '  Popular  Scientific  Lectures.'  It 
contains  four  of  them — the  first,  '  On  the  Kelation 
of  the  Natural  Sciences  to  Science  in  general ; '  the 
second,  '  On  Goethe's  Labours  in  Natural  Science ; ' 
the  third,  '  On  the  Physiological  Origin  of  Musical 
Harmony ; '  and  the  fourth,  '  On  Ice  and  Glaciers.' 
The  lectures  are  in  German,  and  it  is  much  to  be 
desired  that  some  competent  person  should  imder- 
take  their  translation  into  English.' 

I  turned  with  natural  interest  to  the  last-men- 
tioned discourse,  to  see  how  my  notions  and  experi- 
ments on  the  formation  and  motion  of  glaciers  were 

'  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  a.  translation  of  the  two  part* 
iitherto  published  will  soon  be  forthcoming. — J.  T.,  1871. 


378  HELMHOLTZ   ON   ICE   AND   GLACIERS.  [1865 

regarded  by  so  eminent  a  man.  I  will  here  en- 
deavour to  give  a  simamary  of  the  scientific  portion 
of  the  lecture. 

Professor  Helmholtz  refers  the  cold  of  the  upper 
regions  of  the  atmosphere  to  the  causes  generally 
assigned;  but  he  adds  a  remark  important  at  the 
present  moment,  when  the  origin  of  the  hot  wind 
called  Fohn  in  Switzerland  is  the  subject  of  so 
much  discussion.  This  wind,  as  Helmholtz  justly 
observes,  may  not  only  be  a  cold  wind  upon  the 
mountain-summits,  but  a  wet  one,  and  it  may 
deposit  its  moisture  there.  A  wind  thus  dried  upon 
the  heights,  and  warmed  by  its  subsequent  fall  into 
the  valleys,  would  possess  the  heat  and  dryness  of 
the  Fohn.  These  qualities  are,  therefore,  no  proof 
that  the  origin  of  the  Fohnwind  is  Sahara. 

It  will  probably  be  remembered  that  I  deduced 
the  formation  of  glaciers,  and  their  subsequent 
motion  through  valleys  of  varying  width  and  flexure, 
from  the  fact  that  when  two  pieces  of  ice  are  pressed 
together  they  freeze  together  at  their  places  of 
contact.  This  fact  was  first  mentioned  to  me 
verbally  by  its  discoverer,  Faraday.  Soon  after- 
wards, and  long  before  I  had  occasion  to  reflect 
upon  its  cause,  the  application  of  the  fact  to  the 
formation  and  motion  of  glaciers  flashed  upon  me. 
Snow  was  in  the  yard  of  the  Royal  Institution  at  the 
time ;    stuffing  a  quantity  of  it  into  a  steel  mould, 


186o] 


HELMHOLTZ   ON    ICE    AND    GLACIERS. 


379 


which  I  had  previously  employed  to  demonstrate 
the  influence  of  pressure  on  magnetic  phenomena, 
I  squeezed  the  snow,  and  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
it  turn  out  from  the  mould  as  a  cylinder  of  trans- 
Fig.  6. 


lucent  ice.  I  immediately  went  to  Faraday,  and 
expressed  the  conviction  that  his  little  outlying 
experiment  would  be  found  to  constitute  the  basis 
of  a  true  theory  of  glaciers.  It  became  subsequently 
known  to  me  that  the  Messrs.  Schlagintweit   had 


380  HELMHOLTZ   ON    ICE    AND    GLACIERS.  [186* 

made  a  similar  experiment  with  snow ;  but  they  did 
not  connect  with  it  the  applications  which  suggested 
themselves  to  me,  and  which  have  since  been  de- 
veloped into  a  theory  of  glacier-motion. 

A  section  of  tlie  mould  used  in  the  experiment 
above  referred  to  is  given  in  the  foregoing  figure. 
A  B  is  the  solid  base  of  the  mould  ;  c  d  e  F  a  hollow 
cylinder  let  into  the  base ;  p  is  the  solid  plug  used 
to  compress  the  snow.  When  sufficiently  squeezed, 
the  bottom,  a  b,  is  removed,  and  the  cylinder  of 
ice  is  pushed  out  by  the  plug.  The  mould  closely 
resembles  one  of  those  employed  by  Professor 
Helmholtz. 

The  subsequent  development  of  the  subject  by 
the  moulding  of  ice  into  various  forms  by  pressure 
is  too  well  known  to  need  dwelling  upon  here.  In 
applying  these  results  to  glaciers,  I  dwelt  with 
especial  emphasis  upon  the  fact  that  while  the 
power  of  being  moulded  by  pressure  belonged  in  an 
eminent  degree  to  glacier  ice,  the  power  of  yielding, 
by  stretching,  to  a  force  of  tension,  was  sensibly 
wanting.  On  this  point  Prof.  Ilelmholtz  speaks 
as  follows :  '  Tyndall  in  particular  maintained, 
and  proved  by  calculation  and  measurement,  that 
the  ice  of  a  glacier  does  not  stretch  in  the  smallest 
degree  when  subjected  to  tension — that  when  suf- 
ficiently strained  it  always  breaks ; '  and  he  adds, 
in  another  place,  that  the  property  thus  revealed 


1865]  HELMHOLTZ   OH    ICE    AND    GLACIERS.  381 

establishes  '  an  essential  difference  between  a  stream 
of  ice,  and  one  of  lava,  tar,  honey,  or  mud.' 

In  the  beautiful  experiments  of  M.  Tresca  re- 
cently executed,  the  power  of  ice  to  mould  itself 
under  pressure  has  been  very  strikingly  illustrated. 
Professor  Helmholtz  also,  in  the  presence  of  his 
audiences  at  Heidelberg  and  Frankfort,  illustrated 
this  property  in  various  ways.  From  snow  and 
Fig.  7  Fig.  8. 


broken  fragments  of  ice  he  formed  cakes  and 
cylinders ;  and  uniting  the  latter,  end  to  end,  he 
permitted  them  to  freeze  together  to  long  sticks  of 
ice.  Placing,  moreover,  in  a  suitable  mould  a 
cylinder  of  ice  of  the  shape  represented  in  fig.  7,  he 
squeezed  it  into  the  cake  represented  in  fig.  8.  In 
fact  he  corroborated,  by  a  series  of  striking  experi- 
mental devices  of  his  own  the  results  previously 
obtained  by  myself. 


882  HELMIIOLTZ   ON    ICE    AND    GLACIERS.  [18M 

With  regard  to  the  application  of  these  results 
to  the  phenomena  of  glaciers,  Professor  Helmholtz, 
after  satisfying  himself  of  the  insufficiency  of  other 
hypotheses,  thus  finally  expresses  his  conviction : 
*  I  do  not  doubt  that  Tyndall  has  assigned  the 
essential  and  principal  cause  of  glacier-motion,  in 
referring  it  to  fracture  and  regelation.' 

It  is  perhaps  worth  stating  that  the  term  '  re- 
gelation  '  was  first  introduced  in  a  paper  published 
by  Mr.  Huxley  and  myself  more  than  seven  years 
after  the  discovery  of  the  fact  by  Faraday,  and  that 
it  was  suggested  to  us  by  our  friend  Dr.  Hooker, 
Director  of  the  Eoyal  Gardens  at  Kew.  As  already 
remarked,  the  formation  and  motion  of  glaciers,  and 
other  points  of  a  kindred  nature,  had  been  referred 
to  regelation  long  before  I  occupied  myself  with  the 
cause  of  regelation  itself.  This  latter  question  is 
not  once  referred  to  in  the  memoir  in  which  the 
regelation  theory  was  first  developed.'  The  en- 
quiries, though  related,  were  diflferent.  In  referring 
the  motion  of  glaciers  to  a  fact  experimentally 
demonstrated,  I  referred  it  to  its  proximate  cause. 
To  refer  ,that  cause  to  its  physical  antecedents 
formed  the  subject  of  a  distinct  enquiry,  in  which, 
because  of  my  belief  in  the  substantial  correctness  of 
Faraday's  explanation,  I  took  comparatively  little 
part. 

'  Phil,  Trans,  vol.  cxlrii.  p.  327. 


866]  IIELMHOLTZ   ON   ICE    AND   GLACIERS.  383 

Five  persons,  however,  mingled  more  or  less 
in  the  enquiry — viz.  Professor  Faraday,  Principal 
Forbes,  Professor  James  Thomson,  Professor  (now 
Sir)  William  Thomson,  and  myself.^  Professor  James 
Thomson  explained  regelation  by  reference  to  an 
important  deduction,  first  drawn  by  him,*  and  almost 
simultaneously  by  Professor  Clausius,'  from  the 
mechanical  theory  of  heat.  He  had  shown  it  to  be 
a  consequence  of  this  theory  that  the  freezing-point 
of  water  must  be  lowered  by  pressure ;  that  is  to 
say,  water  when  subjected  to  pressure  will  remain 
liquid  at  a  temperature  below  that  at  which  it  would 
freeze  if  the  pressure  were  removed.  This  theoretic 
deduction  was  confirmed  in  a  remarkable  manner  by 
the  experiments  of  his  brother.*  Eegelation,  accord- 
ing to  James  Thomson's  theory,  was  thus  accounted 
for  :  '  When  two  pieces  of  ice  are  pressed  together, 
or  laid  the  one  upon  the  other,  their  compressed 
parts  liquefy.  The  water  thus  produced  has  ren- 
dered latent  a  portion  of  the  heat  of  the  surround- 
ing ice,  and  must  therefore  be  lower  than  0°  C. 
in  temperature.  On  escaping  from  the  pressure 
this  water  refreezes  and  cements  the  pieces  of  ice 
together.' 

'  Proc.  Koy.  Soc.  vol.  ix.  p.  141  ;  and  vol.  x.  p.  152.  PhiL  Mag. 
S.  4,  vol.  xvi.  pp.  347  and  544 ;  and  vol.  xni.  p.  162. 

*  Proc.  Eoy.  Soc.  Edinb.  February  1850. 

*  Pogg.  Ann.  vol.  Ixxxi.  p.  108. 

*  Phil.  Ma-.  Aujiist  1850. 


384  HELMHOLTZ   ON    ICE    AND    OLACIERS.  [1866 

I  always  admitted  that  this  explanation  dealt  with 
a  'true  cause.'  But  considering  the  infinitesimal 
magnitude  of  the  pressure  sufficient  to  produce  re- 
gelation,  in  common  with  Professor  Faraday  and 
Principal  Forbes,  I  deemed  the  cause  an  insufficient 
one.  Professor  James  Thomson,  moreover,  grounded 
upon  the  foregoing  theory  of  regelation  a  theory  of 
glacier-motion,  in  which  he  ascribed  the  changes  of 
form  which  a  glacier  undergoes  to  the  incessant 
liquefaction  of  the  ice  at  places  where  the  pressure 
is  intense,  and  the  refreezing,  in  other  positions,  of 
the  water  thus  produced.'  I  endeavoured  to  show 
that  this  theory  was  inapplicable  to  the  facts. 
Professor  Helmholtz  has  recently  subjected  it  to  the 
test  of  experiment,  and  the  conclusions  which  ho 
draws  from  his  researches  are  substantially  the  same 
as  mine. 

Thus,  then,  as  regards  the  incapacity  of  the  ice 
on  which  my  observations  were  made  to  stretch  in 
obedience  to  tension,  and  its  capacity  to  be  moulded 
to  any  extent  by  pressure — as  regards  the  essential 
difference  between  a  glacier,  and  a  stream  of  lava, 
honey,  or  tar — as  regards  the  sufficiency  of  pressure 
and  regelation  to  account  for  the  formation  of 
glaciers,  and  of  fracture  and  regelation  to  account 
for  their  motion — as  regards,  finally,  the  insuf- 
ficiency of  the  theory  which  refers  the  motion  to 

'  Proc  Roy.  Soc.  vol.  viii.  p.  455. 


1865]  HELMHOLTZ   ON    ICE    AND    GLACIERS.  385 

liquefaction  by  pressure,  and  refreezing,  the  views 
of  Professor  Helmholtz  and  myself  appear  to  be 
identical. 

But  the  case  is  different  with  regard  to  the  cause 
of  regelation  itself.  Here  Professor  Helmholtz,  like 
M.  Jamin,'  accepts  the  clear  and  definite  explanation 
of  Professor  James  Thomson  as  the  most  satisfactory 
that  has  been  advanced  ;  and  he  supports  this  view 
by  an  experiment  so  beautiful  that  it  cannot  fail  to 
give  pleasure  even  to  those  against  whose  opinions 
it  is  adduced.  But  before  passing  to  the  experiment, 
which  is  described  in  the  Appendix  to  the  lecture, 
it  will  be  well  to  give  in  the  words  of  Professor 
Helmholtz  the  views  which  he  expresses  in  the  body 
of  his  discourse. 

'  You  will  now  ask  with  surprise,'  he  says,  '  how  it 
is  that  ice,  the  most  fragile  and  brittle  of  all  known 
solid  substances,  can  flow  in  a  glacier  like  a  viscous 
mass ;  and  you  may  perhaps  be  inclined  to  regard 
this  as  one  of  the  most  unnatural  and  paradoxical 
assertions  that  ever  was  made  by  a  natural  phi- 
losopher. I  will  at  once  admit  that  the  enquirers 
themselves  were  in  no  small  degree  perplexed  by  the 
results  of  their  investigations.  But  the  facts  were 
there,  and  could  not  be  dissipated  by  denial.  Hovr 
this  kind  of  motion  on  the  part  of  ice  was  possible 
remained  long  an  enigma — the  more  so  as  the  known 

'  '  Traits  de  Physique,'  vol.  ii.  p.  105. 


386'  HELMHOLTZ   ON    ICE    AND   GLACIERS.  [1865 

brittleness  of  ice  also  manifested  itself  in  glaciers  by 
the  formation  of  numerous  fissures.  This,  as  Tyndall 
rightly  maintained,  constituted  an  essential  differ- 
ence between  the  ice-stream,  and  a  stream  of  lava, 
tar,  honey,  or  mud. 

'  The  solution  of  this  wonderful  enigma  was  found 
— as  is  often  the  case  in  natural  science — in  an  ap- 
parently remote  investigation  on  the  nature  of  heat, 
which  forms  one  of  the  most  important  conquests  of 
modem  physics,  and  which  is  known  under  the  name 
of  the  mechanical  theory  of  heat.  Among  a  great 
number  of  deductions  as  to  the  relations  of  the  most 
diverse  natural  forces  to  each  other,  the  principles  of 
the  mechanical  theory  of  heat  enable  us  to  draw 
certain  conclusions  regarding  the  dependence  of  the 
freezing-point  of  water  on  the  pressure  to  which  the 
ice  and  water  are  subjected.' 

Professor  Helmholtz  then  explains  to  his  audience 
what  is  meant  by  latent  heat,  and  points  out  that, 
through  the  circulation  of  water  in  the  fissures  and 
capillaries  of  a  glacier,  its  interior  temperature  must 
remain  constantly  at  the  freezing-point. 

'But,'  he  continues,  Hhe  temperature  of  tlie 
freezing-point  of  water  can  be  altered  by  pressure. 
This  was  first  deduced  by  James  Thomson,  and 
almost  simultaneously  by  Clausius,  from  the  me- 
chanical theory  of  heat ;  and  by  the  same  deductionn 
even  the  magnitiide  of  the  change  may  be  predicted 


.865]  HELMHOLTZ   ON    ICE    AND   GLACIERS.  387 

For  the  pressure  of  every  additional  atmosphere,  the 
freezing-point  sinks  0°*0075  C.  The  brother  of  the 
gentleman  first  named,  William  Thomson,  the  cele- 
brated Glasgow  physicist,  verified  experimentally  the 
theoretic  deduction  by  compressing  a  mixture  of  ice 
and  water  in  a  suitable  vessel.  The  mixture  became 
colder  and  colder  as  the  pressure  was  augmented,  and 
by  the  exact  amount  which  the  mechanical  theory  of 
heat  required. 

'If,  then,  by  pressure  a  mixture  of  ice  and  water 
can  be  rendered  colder  without  the  actual  abstraction 
of  heat,  this  can  only  occur  by  the  liquefaction  of 
the  ice  and  the  rendering  of  heat  latent.  And  this 
is  the  reason  why  pressure  can  alter  the  point  of 
congelation 

'  In  the  experiment  of  William  Thomson  just 
referred  to  ice  and  water  were  enclosed  in  a  solid 
vessel  from  which  nothing  could  escape.  The  case 
is  somewhat  different  when,  as  in  the  case  of  a 
glacier,  the  water  of  the  compressed  ice  can  escape 
through  fissures.  In  this  case  the  ice  is  compressed, 
but  not  the  water  which  escapes.  The  pressed  ice 
will  become  colder  by  a  quantity  corresponding  to 
the  lowering  of  its  freezing-point  by  the  pressure. 
But  the  freezing-point  of  the  uncompressed  water  is 
not  lowered.  Here,  then,  we  have  ice  colder  than 
0°  C.  in  contact  with  water  at  0°  C.  The  con- 
sequence is,  that  round   the  place  of  pressure  the 


588  HELMHOLTZ   ON   ICE   AND   GLACIERS.  [1866 

water  will  freeze  and  form  new  ice,  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  a  portion  of  the  compressed  ice  continues 
to  be  melted  (wahrend  dafiir  ein  Theil  des  gepressten 
Eises  fortschmilzt). 

'  This  occurs,  for  instance,  when  two  pieces  of  ice 
are  simply  pressed  together.  By  the  water  which 
freezes  at  the  points  of  contact  they  are  firmly 
united  to  a  continuous  mass.  When  the  pressure  is 
considerable,  and  the  chilling  consequently  great,  the 
union  occurs  quickly,  but  it  may  also  be  effected  by 
a  very  slight  pressure  if  sufficient  time  be  afforded. 
Faraday,  who  discovered  this  phenomenon,  named  it 
the  regelation  of  ice.^  Its  explanation  has  given 
rise  to  considerable  controversy:  I  have  laid  that 
explanation  before  you  which  I  consider  to  be  the 
most  satisfactory.' 

In  the  Appendix,  Professor  Helmholtz  returns  to 
the  subject  thus  handled  in  the  body  of  his  dis- 
course. 'The  theory  of  the  regelation  of  ice,  he 
observes,  '  has  given  rise  to  a  scientific  discussion 
between  Faraday  and  Tyndall  on  the  one  hand,  and 
James  and  William  Thomson  on  the  other.  In  the 
text  of  this  lecture  I  have  adopted  the  theory  of  the 
latter,  and  have  therefore  to  justify  myself  for  so 
doing.'  He  then  analyses  the  reasonings  on  both  sides, 
points    out   the    theoretic    difficulties  of  Faraday's 

'  I  have  corrected  this  eh'ght  inadvortonco.  Wo  owe  the  name 
to  ITookor. 


1835]  HELMIIOLTZ    ON    ICE    AND   GLACIERS.  38 ^ 

explanation,  shows  what  a  small  pressure  can  accom- 
plish if  only  sufficient  time  be  granted  to  it,  draws 
attention  to  the  fact  that  when  one  piece  of  ice  is 
placed  upon  another  the  pressure  is  not  distributed 
over  the  whole  of  the  two  appressed  surfaces,  but  is 
concentrated  on  a  few  points  of  contact.  He  also 
holds,  with  Professor  James  Thomson,  that  in  an 
experiment  devised  by  Principal  Forbes  even  the 
capillary  attraction  exerted  between  two  plates  of 
ice  is  sufficient,  in  due  time,  to  produce  regelation. 
To  illustrate  the  slow  action  of  tlie  small  differences 
of  temperature  which  here  come  into  play  Professor 
Helmholtz  made  the  following  experiment,  to  which 
reference  has  been  already  made. 

'  A  glass  flask  with  a  drawn-out  neck  was  half 
filled  with  water,  which  was  boiled  until  all  the  air 
above  it  was  driven  out.  The  flask  was  then  her- 
metically sealed.  When  cooled,  the  flask  was  void 
of  air,  and  the  water  within  it  freed  from  the 
pressure  of  the  atmosphere.  As  the  water  thus 
prepared  can  be  cooled  considerably  below  0°  C. 
before  the  first  ice  is  formed,  while  when  ice  is  in 
the  flask  it  freezes  at  0°  C.  [why  ?  J.  T.],  the  flask 
was  in  the  first  instance  placed  in  a  freezing  mixture 
until  the  water  was  changed  into  ice.  It  was  after- 
wards permitted  to  melt  slowly  in  a  place  the  tem- 
perature of  which  was  +2°  C,  until  the  half  of  it 
was  liquefied 


390  HELMIIOLTZ   ON    ICE    AND    GLACIERS.  [1866 

'  The  flask  thus  half  filled  with  water  having  a 
disk  of  ice  swimming  upon  it  was  placed  in  a  mix- 
ture of  ice  and  water,  being  quite  surrounded  by  the 
mixture.  After  an  hour  the  disk  within  tlie  flask  was 
frozen  to  the  glass.  By  shaking  the  flask  the  disk 
was  liberated,  but  it  froze  again.  This  occurred  as 
often  as  the  shaking  was  repeated.  The  flask  was 
permitted  to  remain  for  eight  days  in  the  mixture, 
which  was  preserved  throughout  at  a  temperature 
of  0°  C.  During  this  time  a  number  of  very  regular 
and  sharply  defined  ice-crystals  were  formed,  and 
augmented  very  slowly  in  size.  This  is  perhaps 
the  best  method  of  obtaining  beautifully  formed 
crystals  of  ice. 

'  While,  therefore,  the  outer  ice  which  had  to 
support  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere  slowly 
melted,  the  water  within  the  flask,  whose  freezing- 
point,  on  account  of  a  defect  of  pressure,  was 
0°*0075  C.  higher,  deposited  crystals  of  ice.  The 
heat  abstracted  from  the  water  in  this  operation 
had,  moreover,  to  pass  through  the  glass  of  the 
flask,  which,  together  with  the  small  difference  of 
temperature,  explains  the  slowness  of  the  freezing 
process.' 

A  single  additional  condition  in  connection  witli 
tliis  beautiful  experiment  I  should  like  to  have 
seen  fulfilled — namely,  that  the  water  in  which  the 
flask  was  immersed,  as  well  as  that  within  it,  should 


1865] 


HELMHOLTZ   ON    ICE    AND    GLACIERS. 


391 


be  purged  of  its  air  by  boiling.  It  is  just  possible 
that  the  point  of  congelation  may  not  be  entirely 
independent  of  the  presence  of  air  in  the  water. 

The  revival  of  this  subject  by  Professor  Helmholtz 
has  caused  me  to  make  a  few  additional  experi- 
ments on  the  moulding  and  regelation  of  ice.  The 
following  illustrates  both :  A  quantity  of  snowy 
powder  was  scraped  from  a  block  of  clear  ice  and 


Fig.  9. 


Fig.  10. 


placed  in  a  boxwood  mould  having  a  shape  like 
the  foot  of  a  claret-glass.  The  ice-powder  being 
squeezed  by  a  hydraulic  press,  a  clear  mass  of  ice 
of  the  shape  shown  in  section  at  the  bottom  of 
fig.  9  was  the  result.  In  another  mould  the  same 
powder  was  squeezed  so  as  to  form  small  cylinders, 
three  of  which  are  shown  separate  in  fig.  9.  A  third 
mould  was  then  employed  to  form  a  cup  of  ice, 
which  is  shown  at  the  top  of  fig.  9.     Bringing  all 


392 


IlELMUOLTZ    ON    ICE    AND   GLACIERS. 


[1865 


the  parts  into  contact,  they  were  cemented  through 
regelation  to  form  the  claret-glass  sketched  in  fig.  10, 
from  which  several  draughts  of  wine  might  be  taken, 
if  the  liquid  were  cooled  sufficiently  before  pouring 
it  into  the  cup  of  ice. 

There   are   brass  shapes  used  for  the  casting  of 
flowers   and  other  objects  which  answer  admirably 
for  experiments  on  the  regelation  of  ice.     One  of 
Fig.  11. 


them  was  purchased  for  me  by  Mr.  Becker.  Ice- 
powder  squeezed  into  it  regelated  to  a  solid  mass 
and  came  from  the  mould  in  the  sharply  defined 
form  sketched  in  fis:.  1 1 . 


I  placed  a  small  piece  of  ice  in  warm  water  and 
pressed  it  underneath  the  water  by  a  second  piece. 


1865]  HELMHOLTZ   ON    ICE    AND   GLACIERS.  393 

The  submerged  morsel  was  so  small  that  the  vertical 
pressure  was  almost  infinitesimal.  It  froze,  not- 
withstanding, to  the  under  surface  of  the  superior 
piece  of  ice.  Two  pieces  of  ice  were  placed  in  a 
basin  of  warm  water,  and  allowed  to  come  together. 
They  froze  as  soon  as  they  touched  each  other. 
The  parts  surrounding  the  place  of  contact  rapidly 
melted  away,  but  the  two  pieces  continued  for  a 
time  united  by  a  narrow  bridge  of  ice.  The  bridge 
finally  melted  away,  and  the  pieces  were  for  a 
moment  separated.  But  bodies  which  water  wets, 
and  against  which  it  rises  by  capillary  attraction, 
move  spontaneously  together  upon  water.  The  ice 
morsels  did  so,  and  immediately  regelation  again  set 
in.  A  new  bridge  was  formed,  which  in  its  turn  was 
dissolved,  and  the  pieces  closed  up  as  before.  Thus 
a  kind  of  pulsation  was  kept  up  by  the  two  pieces 
of  ice.  They  touched,  froze,  a  bridge  was  formed 
and  melted,  leaving  an  interval  between  the  pieces. 
Across  this  they  moved,  touched,  froze,  the  same 
process  being  repeated  over  and  over  again. 

We  have  here  the  explanation  of  the  curious  fact 
that  wlien  several  large  lumps  of  ice  are  placed  in 
warm  water  and  allowed  to  touch  each  other,  rege- 
lation is  maintained  among  them  as  long  as  they 
remain  undissolved.  The  final  fragments  may  not 
be  the  one-hundredth  part  of  the  original  ones 
in  size ;   but   through   the   process  just  described, 


S94  HELMHOLTZ   ON    ICE    AND   GLACIERS.  [1865 

they  incessantly  lock  themselves  together  until  they 
finally  disappear. 

According  to  Professor  James  Thomson's  theory, 
to  produce  regelation  the  pieces  of  ice  have  to 
exercise  pressiue,  in  order  to  draw  from  the  surround- 
ing ice  the  heat  necessary  for  the  liquefaction  of  the 
compressed  part ;  and  then  this  water  must  escape 
and  be  refrozen.  All  this  requires  time.  In  the  fore- 
going experiments,  moreover,  the  water  liquefied 
by  the  pressure  issued  into  the  surrounding  warm 
water,  but  notwithstanding  this  the  floating  frag- 
ments regelated  in  a  moment.  It  is  not  necessary 
that  the  touching  surfaces  should  be  flat ;  for 
in  this  case  a  film  of  water  might  be  supposed 
to  exist  between  them  of  the  temperature  0°C. 
The  surfaces  in  contact  may  be  convex :  they 
may  be  virtual  points  that  are  about  to  touch 
each  other,  clasped  all  round  by  the  warm  liquid, 
which  is  rapidly  dissolving  them  as  they  ap- 
proach. Still  they  freeze  immediately  when  they 
touch. 

There  are  two  points  urged  by  Helmholtz — one 
in  favour  of  the  view  he  has  adopted,  and  the  other 
showing  a  difficulty  associated  with  the  view  of 
Faraday — on  which  a  few  words  may  be  said.  '  I 
found,'  says  Helmholtz,  '  the  strength  and  rapidity 
of  the  union  of  the  pieces  of  ice  in  such  com- 
plete correspondence  with  the  amount  of  pressure 


1865]  HELMIIOLTZ   ON    ICE    AND   GLACIERS.  395 

employed,  that  I  cannot  doubt  that  the  pressure  is 
actually  the  sufficient  cause  of  the  union.' 

But,  according  to  Faraday's  explanation,  the 
strength  and  quickness  of  the  regelation  must  also 
go  hand  in  hand  with  the  magnitude  of  the  pressure 
employed.  Helmholtz  rightly  dwells  upon  the  fact 
that  the  appressed  surfaces  are  usually  not  perfectly 
congruent — that  they  really  touch  each  other  in  a 
few  points  only,  the  pressure  being,  therefore,  con- 
centrated. Now  the  effect  of  pressure  exerted  on 
two  pieces  of  ice  at  a  temperature  of  0°  C.  is  not 
only  to  lessen  the  thickness  of  the  liquid  film  be- 
tween the  pieces,  but  also  to  flatten  out  the  appressed 
points,  and  thus  to  spread  the  film  over  a  greatei 
space.  On  both  theories,  therefore,  the  strength 
and  quickness  of  the  regelation  ought  to  correspond 
to  the  magnitude  of  the  pressure. 

The  difficulty  referred  to  above  is  thus  stated  by 
Helmholtz  :  '  In  the  explanation  given  by  Faraday, 
according  to  which  the  regelation  is  caused  by  a 
contact  action  of  ice  and  water,  I  find  a  theoretic 
difficulty.  By  the  freezing  of  the  water  a  very 
sensible  quantity  of  heat  would  be  set  free ;  and  it 
does  not  appear  how  this  is  to  be  disposed  of.' 

On  the  part  of  those  who  accept  Faraday's  expla- 
nation, the  answer  here  would  be  that  the  free  heat 
is  diffused  through  the  adjacent  ice.  But  against 
this  it  will  doubtless  be  urged  that  ice  already  at  a 


396  HELMHOLTZ   ON    ICE    AND   GLACIERS.  [1865 

temperature  of  0°  C.  cannot  take  up  more  heat 
without  liquefaction.  If  this  be  true  under  all 
circumstances,  Faraday's  explanation  must  undoubt- 
edly be  given  up.  But  the  essence  of  that  expla- 
nation seems  to  be  that  the  interior  portions  of  a 
mass  of  ice  require  a  higher  temperature  to  dissolve 
them  than  that  sufficient  to  cause  fusion  at  the 
surface.  When  therefore  two  moist  surfaces  of  ice  at 
the  temperature  0'^  are  pressed  together,  and  when, 
in  virtue  of  the  contact  action  assumed  by  Faraday, 
the  film  of  water  between  them  is  frozen,  the 
adjacent  ice  (which  is  now  in  the  interior,  and  not 
at  the  surface  as  at  first)  is  in  a  condition  to  with- 
draw by  conduction,  and  without  prejudice  to  its 
own  solidity,  the  small  amount  of  heat  set  free. 
Once  granting  the  contact  action  claimed  by  Fara- 
day, there  seems  to  be  no  difficulty  in  disposing  of 
the  heat  rendered  sensible  by  the  freezing  of  the  film. 
When  the  year  is  advanced,  and  after  the  ice 
imported  into  London  has  remained  a  long  time  in 
store,  if  closely  examined,  parcels  of  liquid  water 
will  be  found  in  the  interior  of  the  mass.  I  en- 
veloped ice  containing  such  water-parcels  in  tinfoil, 
and  placed  it  in  a  freezing  mixture  until  the  liquid 
parcels  were  perfectly  congealed.  Removing  tlie 
ice  from  the  freezing  mixture,  I  placed  it,  covered 
by  its  envelope,  in  a  dark  room,  and  found,  after  a 
couple  of  hours'  exposure  to  a  temperature  somewhat 


1865]  HELMHOLTZ   ON    ICE    AND    GLACIERS.  397 

over  0°  C,  the  frozen  parcels  again  liquid.  The 
heat  which  fused  this  interior  ice  -passed  through 
the  firmer  surrounding  ice  without  the  slightest 
visible  prejudice  to  its  solidity.  But  if  the  freezing 
temperature  of  the  ice-parcels  be  0"  C,  then  the 
freezing  temperature  of  the  mass  surrounding  them 
must  be  higher  than  0°  C,  which  is  what  the  expla- 
nation of  Faraday  requires. 

In  a  quotation  at  p.  389  I  have  attached  to  the 
description  of  a  precaution  taken  by  Professor  Helm- 
holtz  the  query  '  why  ? '  He  states  that  water  freed 
of  its  air  sinks,  without  freezing,  to  a  temperature 
far  below  0°  C. ;  while  when  a  piece  of  ice  is  in 
the  water  it  cannot  so  sink  in  temperature,  but  is 
invariably  deposited  in  the  solid  form  at  0°  C.  This 
surely  proves  ice  to  possess  a  special  power  of  solidi- 
fication over  water.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the 
fact  is  general — that  a  crystal  of  any  salt  placed  in 
a  saturated  solution  of  the  salt  always  provokes 
crystallisation.  Applying  this  fact  to  the  minute 
film  of  water  enclosed  between  two  appressed 
surfaces  of  ice,  it  seems  to  me  in  the  highest  degree 
probable  that  the  contact  action  of  Faraday  will 
set  in,  that  the  film  will  freeze  and  cement  the 
pieces  of  ice  together.^ 

Apart  from  the  present  discussion,  the  following 

'  Both  Professor  Ilelmholtz  and  I  havo  since  agreed  to  consider 
the  physical  cause  of  regelation  ap  open  (jnestion. 

18 


398  HELMHOLTZ   ON    ICE    AND    GLACIERS.  [1865 

observation  is  perhaps  worth  recording :  It  is  well 
known  that  ice  during  a  thaw  disintegrates  so  as  to 
form  rude  prisms  whose  axes  are  at  right  angles  to 
the  planes  of  freezing.  I  have  often  observed  this 
action  on  a  large  scale  during  the  winters  that  I 
spent  as  a  student  on  the  banks  of  the  Lahn.  The 
manner  in  which  these  prisms  are  in  some  cases 
formed  is  extremely  interesting.  On  close  inspec- 
tion, a  kind  of  cloudiness  is  observed  in  the  interior 
of  a  mass  of  apparently  perfect  ice.  Looked  at 
tlirough  a  strong  lens,  this  cloudiness  appears  as 
striae  at  right  angles  to  the  planes  of  freezing,  and 
when  the  direction  of  vision  is  across  these  planes 
the  ends  of  the  striae  are  apparent.  The  spaces  be- 
tween the  striae  are  composed  of  clear  unclouded  ice. 
When  duly  magnified,  the  objects  which  produce  the 
striae  turn  out  to  be  piles  of  minute  liquid  flowers, 
whose  planes  are  at  right  angles  to  the  direction  of 
the  striae. 


Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  been  favoured 
with  a  copy  of  a  discourse  delivered  by  Professor 
De  la  Eive,  at  the  opening  of  the  forty-ninth  meet- 
ing of  the  Societe  Helvetique,  which  assembled  in 
1865  at  Geneva.  From  this  admirable  resume  of 
our  present  knowledge  regarding  glaciers  I  make 
tlie  following  extract,  which,  together  with  those 
from  the  lecture  of  Hclmlioltz,  will  show  sufficiently 


.8Go]  HELMHOLTZ   ON    ICE    AND    GLACIEKS.  399 

how  the  subject  is  now  regarded  by  scientific  men  : 
*Such,  gentlemen,'  says  M.  De  la  Eive,  'is  a  de- 
scription of  the  phenomena  of  glaciers,  and  it  now 
remains  to  explain  them,  to  consult  observation, 
and  deduce  from  it  the  fundamental  character  of 
the  phenomena.  Observation  teaches  us  that  gravity 
is  the  motive  force,  and  that  this  force  acts  upon  a 
solid  body — ice — imparting  to  it  a  slow  and  con- 
tinuous motion.  What  are  we  to  conclude  from  this  ? 
That  ice  is  a  solid  which  possesses  the  property  of 
flowing  like  a  viscous  body — a  conclusion  which 
appears  very  simple,  but  which  was  nevertheless 
announced  for  the  first  time  hardly  five-and-twentj 
years  ago  by  one  of  the  most  distinguished  philo- 
sophers of  Scotland,  Professor  James  D.  Forbes. 
This  theory,  for  it  truly  is  a  theory,  basing  itself  on 
facts  as  numerous  as  they  are  well  observed,  enun- 
ciates the  principle  that  ice  possesses  the  character- 
istic properties  which  belong  to  plastic  bodies. 
Although  he  did  not  directly  prove  it,  to  Professor 
Forbes  belongs  not  the  less  the  great  merit  of  insist- 
ing on  the  plasticity  of  ice,  before  Faraday,  in  dis- 
covering the  phenomenon  of  regelation,  enabled 
Tyndall  to  prove  that  the  plasticity  was  real,  at 
least  partially. 

'The  experiment  of  Faraday  is  classical  in  con- 
nexion with  our  subject.  It  consists,  as  you  know, 
in  this,  that  if  two  morsels  of  ice  be  brought  into 


400  HELMHOLTZ    ON    ICE    AND    GLACIERS.  [1865 

contact  in  water,  which  may  be  even  warm,  they 
freeze  together.  Tyndall  immediately  saw  the  ap- 
plication of  Faraday's  experiment  to  the  theory  of 
glaciers  ;  he  comprehended  that,  since  pieces  of  ice 
could  thus  solder  themselves  together,  the  substance 
might  be  broken,  placed  in  a  mould,  compressed, 
and  thus  compelled  to  take  the  form  of  the  cavity 
which  contained  it.  A  wooden  mould,  for  example, 
embraces  a  spherical  cavity;  placing  in  it  frag- 
ments of  ice  and  squeezing  them,  we  obtain  an  ice 
sphere ;  placing  this  sphere  in  a  second  mould  with 
a  lenticular  cavity  and  pressing  it,  we  transform  the 
sphere  into  a  lens.  In  this  way  we  can  impart  any 
form  whatever  to  ice. 

'  Such  is  the  discovery  of  Tyndall,  which  may  well 
be  thus  named,  particularly  in  view  of  its  conse- 
quences. For  all  these  moulds  magnified  become 
the  borders  of  the  valley  in  which  a  glacier  flows. 
Here  the  action  of  the  hydraulic  press  which  has 
served  for  the  experiments  of  the  laboratory  is  re- 
placed by  the  weight  of  the  masses  of  snow  and  ice 
collected  on  the  summits,  and  exerting  their  pres- 
sure on  the  ice  which  descends  into  the  valley. 
Supposing,  for  example,  between  the  spherical  mould 
and  the  lenticular  one,  a  graduated  series  of  other 
moulds  to  exist,  each  of  which  differs  very  little  from 
the  one  which  precedes  and  from  that  which  follows 
it,  and  that  a  mass  of  ice   could  be  made  to  passf 


;865]  IIELMIIOLTZ   ON   ICE   AND   GLACIERS.  401 

through  all  these  moulds  in  succession,  the  pliono- 
menon  would  then  become  continuous.  Instead  o^ 
rudely  breaking,  the  ice  would  be  compelled  to  change 
by  insensible  degrees  from  the  spherical  to  the 
lenticular  form.  It  would  thus  exhibit  a  plasticity 
which  might  be  compared  to  that  of  soft  wax.  But 
ice  is  only  plastic  under  pressure  ;  it  is  not  plastic 
under  tension  :  and  this  is  the  important  point  which 
the  vague  theory  of  plasticity  was  unable  to  explain. 
While  a  viscous  body,  like  bitumen  or  honey,  may 
be  drawn  out  in  filaments  by  tension,  ice,  far  fi'om 
stretching  in  this  way,  breaks  like  glass  under  this 
action.  These  points  well  established  by  Tyndall,  it 
became  easy  for  him  to  explain  the  mechanism  of 
glaciers,  and  by  the  aid  of  an  English  geometer,  Mr. 
William  Hopkins,  to  show  how  the  direction  of  the 
crevasses  of  a  glacier  are  the  necessary  consequences 
of  its  motion.' 


I  have  quite  recently  had  a  mould  constructed  for 
me  by  Mr.  Becker,'  and  yesterday  (November  16, 
1 865)  made  with  it  an  experiment  which,  on  account 
of  the  ease  with  which  it  may  be  performed,  will  in- 
terest all  those  who  care  about  exhibiting  in  a  strik- 
ing and  instructive  manner  the  effects  of  regelation. 

'  I  am  contimially  indebted  to  this  ablo  mechanism  fur  pivrui'i 
wid  intelligent  aid  in  the  carrying  out  of  my  ideas. 


402 


HELMHOLTZ    ON    ICE    AND   GLACIERS. 


[1866 


The  mould  is  shown  in  fig.  12.  It  consists  of  two 
pieces  of  cast  iron,  ABC  and  d  f  G,  slightly  wedge- 
shaped  and  held  together  by  the  iron  rectangle  r  k 
which  is  slipped  over  them.  The  inner  face  of  a  b 
0  is  shown  in  fig.  13.  In  it  is  hollowed  out  a  semi- 
ring M  N,  with  a  semicylindrical  passage  o  leading 


into  it.  The  inner  face  of  d  f  g  is  similarly  hol- 
lowed out,  so  that  when  both  faces  are  placed 
together,  as  in  fig.  12,  they  enclose  a  ring  4  inches  in 
external  diameter,  from  m  to  n,  and  |  of  an  inch  in 
thickness,   with  thb  passage  o,  I  inch  in  diameter, 


>86o] 


HBLMIIOLTZ    ON    ICE    AND    GLACIERS. 


403 


into  which  fits  the  polished  iron  plug  p.  At  q  and 
r,  fig.  13,  are  little  pins  which,  fitting  into  holes 
corresponding  to  them,  keep  the  slabs  a  b  c  and  d  f  a 
from  sliding  over  each  other. 

The  mould  being  first  cooled  by  placing  it  for  a 
short  time  in  a  mixture  of  ice  and  water,  fragments 
of  ice  are  stuffed  into  the  orifice  o  and  driven  down 


Fig.  13. 


Fig.  H. 


with  a  hammer  by  means  of  the  plug  p.  The  bruised 
and  broken  ice  separates  at  a?,  one  portion  going  to 
the  right,  the  other  to  the  left.  Driving  the  ice 
thus  into  the  mould,  piece  after  piece,  it  is  finally 
filled.     By  removing  the   rectangle   r  e,   the   two 


404  rtELMUOLTZ  ON  ICU    AND   GLACIERS.  [1865 

halves  of  the  mould  are  then  separated,  and  a  per- 
fect ring  of  ice  is  found  within.  Two  such  ringa 
soldered  by  regelation  at  a  are  shown  in  fig.  14.  It 
would  be  easy  thus  to  construct  a  chain  of  ice.  An 
hydraulic  press  may  of  course  be  employed  in  this 
experiment,  but  it  is  not  necessary ;  with  the  hammer 
and  plug  beautiful  rings  of  ice  are  easily  obtained 
by  the  regelation  of  the  crushed  fragments. 

I  have  now  to  add  the  description  of  an  experiment 
which  suggested  itself  to  my  ingenious  friend  Mr. 
Duppa,  when  he  saw  the  ice-rings  just  referred  to, 
and  which  was  actually  executed  by  him  yesterday 
(the  16th)  in  the  laboratory  of  the  Eoyal  Institution. 
Pouring  a  quantity  of  plaster  of  paris  into  a  proper 
vessel,  an  ice-ring  was  laid  upon  the  substance,  an 
additional  quantity  of  the  cement  being  then 
poured  over  the  ring.  The  plaster  '  set,'  enclosing 
the  ring  within  it :  the  ring  soon  melted,  leaving  its 
perfect  matrix  behind.  The  mould  was  permitted  to 
dry,  and,  molten  lead  being  poured  into  the  space 
previously  occupied  by  the  ice,  a  leaden  ring  was 
produced.  Now  ice  can  be  moulded  into  any  shape  : 
statuettes,  vases,  flowers,  and  innumerable  other 
ornaments  can  be  formed  from  it.  These  enclosed 
in  cement,  in  the  manner  suggested  by  Mr.  Duppa, 
remain  intact  sufficiently  long  to  enable  tlie  cement; 
to  set  around  them ;  they  afterwards  melt  and  dis- 
appear, leaving  behind  them  perfect  plaster  moulds, 
from  which  casts  can  be  taken. 


CLOUDS.  405 


V. 

CLOUDS. 

From  every  natural  fact  invisible  relations  radiate, 
the  apprehension  of  which  imparts  a  measure  of 
delight;  and  there  is  a  store  of  pleasure  of  this 
kind  ever  at  hand  for  those  who  have  the  capacity 
to  turn  natiual  appearances  to  account.  It  is 
pleasant,  for  example,  to  lie  on  one's  back  upon  a 
dry  green  slope  and  watch  the  clouds  forming  and 
disappearing  in  the  blue  heaven.  A  few  days  back 
the  firmament  was  mottled  with  floating  cumuli, 
from  the  fringes  of  which  light  of  dazzling  white- 
ness was  reflected  downwards,  while  the  chief  mass 
of  the  clouds  lay  in  dark  shadow.  From  the  edge  of 
one  large  cloud-field  stretched  small  streamers,  which, 
when  attentively  observed,  were  seen  to  disappear 
gradually,  and  finally  to  leave  no  trace  upon  the 
blue  sky.  On  the  opposite  fringe  of  the  same 
cloud,  and  beyond  it,  small  patches  of  milky  mist 
would  appear,  and  curdle  up,  so  as  to  form  little 
cloudlets  as  dense  apparently  as  the  large  mass  be- 
side which  they  were  formed.  The  counter  processes 
of    production    and    consumption    were    evidently 


406  CLOUDS. 

going  on  at  opposite  sides  of  the  cloud.  Even  in 
the  midst  of  the  serene  firmament,  where  a  moment 
previously  the  space  seemed  absolutely  void,  white 
cloud-patches  were  formed,  their  sudden  appearance 
exciting  that  kind  of  surprise  which  might  be 
supposed  to  accompany  the  observation  of  a  direct 
creative  act. 

These  clouds  were  really  the  indicators  of  what 
was  going  on  in  the  unseen  air.  Without  them  no 
motion  was  visible ;  but  their  appearance  and  dis- 
appearance proved  not  only  the  existence  of  motion, 
but  also  the  want  of  homogeneity  in  the  atmo- 
sphere. Though  we  did  not  see  them,  currents 
were  mingling,  possessing  different  temperatures  and 
carrying  different  loads  of  invisible  watery  vapour 
We  know  that  clouds  are  not  true  vapour,  but 
vapour  precipitated  by  cold  to  water.  We  know 
also  that  the  amount  of  water  which  the  air  can 
hold  in  the  invisible  state  depends  upon  its  tempe- 
rature ;  the  higher  the  temperature  of  the  air,  the 
more  water  will  it  be  able  to  take  up.  But,  when 
a  portion  of  warm  air,  carrying  its  invisible  charge, 
is  invaded  by  a  current  of  low  temperature,  the 
chilled  vapour  is  precipitated,  and  a  cloud  is  the 
consequence.  In  this  way  two  parcels  of  moist  air, 
each  of  which  taken  singly  may  be  perfectly  trans- 
parent, can  produce  by  their  mixture  an  opaque 
cloud.    In  the  same  way  a  body  of  clear  humid  air, 


CLOUDS.  407 

when  it  strikes  the  cold  summit  of  a  moimtain,  may 
render  that  mountain  '  cloud-capped.' 

An  illustration  of  this  process,  which  occurred 
some  years  ago  in  a  Swedish  ball-room,  is  recounted 
by  Professor  Dove.  The  weather  was  clear  and 
cold,  and  the  ball-room  was  clear  and  warm.  A 
lady  fainted,  and  air  was  thought  necessary  to  her 
restoration.  A  military  officer  present  tried  to  open 
the  window,  but  it  was  frozen  fast.  He  broke  the 
window  with  his  sword,  the  cold  air  entered,  and 
it  snowed  in  the  room.  A  minute  before  this  all 
was  clear,  the  wann  air  sustaining  a  large  amount 
of  moisture  in  a  transparent  condition.  When  the 
colder  air  entered,  the  vapour  was  first  condensed 
and  then  frozen.  The  admission  of  cool  air  even 
into  our  London  ball-rooms  produces  mistiness. 
Mountain-chains  are  very  effective  in  precipitating 
the  vapour  of  our  south-westerly  winds  ;  and  this 
sometimes  to  such  an  extent  as  to  produce  totally 
different  climates  on  the  two  sides  of  the  same 
mountain-group.  This  is  very  strikingly  illustrated 
by  the  observations  of  Dr.  Lloyd  on  the  rainfall  of 
Ireland.  Stations  situated  on  the  south-west  side 
of  a  mountain-range  showed  a  quantity  of  rain  far 
in  excess  of  that  observed  upon  the  north-east  side. 
The  winds  in  passing  over  the  mountains  were 
drained  of  their  moisture,  and  were  afterwards 
comparatively  dry. 


408  CLOUDS. 

Two  or  three  years  ago  I  had  an  opportunity  of 
witnessing  a  singular  case  of  condensation  at  Mor- 
tain  in  Normandy.  The  tourist  will  perhaps  re- 
member a  little  chapel  perched  upon  the  highest 
summit  in  the  neighbourhood.  A  friend  and  I 
chanced  to  be  at  this  point  near  the  hour  of  sunset. 
The  air  was  cloudless,  and  the  sun  flooded  the  hill- 
sides and  valleys  with  golden  light.  We  watched 
him  as  he  gradually  approached  the  crest  of  a  hill, 
behind  which  he  finally  disappeared.  Up  to  this 
point  a  sunny  landscape  of  exquisite  beauty  was 
spread  before  us,  the  atmosphere  being  very  trans- 
parent ;  but  now  the  air  seemed  suddenly  to  curdle 
into  mist.  Five  minutes  after  the  sun  had  de- 
parted, a  dense  fog  filled  the  valleys  and  drifted  in 
fleecy  masses  up  the  sides  of  the  hills.  In  an  in- 
credibly short  time  we  found  ourselves  enveloped 
in  local  clouds  so  dense  as  to  render  our  retreat  a 
matter  of  some  difficulty. 

In  this  case,  before  the  sun  had  disappeared  the 
air  was  evidently  nearly  saturated  with  transparent 
vapour.  But  why  did  the  vapour  curdle  up  so 
suddenly  when  the  sun  departed  ?  Was  it  because 
the  withdrawal  of  his  beams  rendered  the  air  of 
the  valleys  colder,  and  thus  caused  the  precipitation 
of  the  moisture  difi'used  through  the  air?  No. 
We  must  look  for  an  explanation  to  a  more  direct 
action  of  the  sun  upon  the  atmospheric  moisture. 


CLOUDS.  409 

Lei  me  explain.  The  beams  which  reach  us  from 
the  sun  are  of  a  very  composite  character.  A 
sheaf  of  white  sunbeams  is  composed  of  an  infinitude 
of  coloured  rays,  the  resultant  effect  of  all  upon 
the  eye  being  the  impression  of  whiteness.  But 
though  the  colours,  and  shades  of  colour,  which 
enter  into  the  composition  of  a  sunbeam  are  infinite, 
for  the  sake  of  convenience  we  divide  them  into  seven, 
which  are  known  as  the  prismatic  colours. 

The  beams  of  the  sun,  however,  produce  heat  as 
well  as  light,  and  there  are  different  qualities  of 
heat  in  the  sunbeam  as  well  as  different  qualities  of 
light — nay,  there  are  copious  rays  of  heat  in  a 
sunbeam  which  give  no  light  at  all,  some  of  which 
never  even  reach  the  retina  at  all,  but  are  totally 
absorbed  by  the  hvunours  of  the  eye.  Now,  the  same 
substance  may  permit  rays  of  heat  of  a  certain 
quality  to  pass  freely  through  it,  while  it  may 
effectually  stop  rays  of  heat  of  another  quality. 
But  in  all  cases  the  heat  stopped  is  expended  in 
heating  the  body  which  stops  it.  Now,  water  pos- 
sesses this  selecting  power  in  an  eminent  degree. 
It  allows  the  blue  rays  of  the  solar  beam  to  pass 
through  it  with  facility,  but  it  slightly  intercepts 
the  red  rays,  and  absorbs  with  exceeding  energy  the 
obscure  rays  ;  and  those  are  the  precise  rays  which 
possess  the  most  intense  heating  power. 

"We   see   here  at  once  the  powerful  antagonism 


410  CLOUDS. 

of  the  sun  to  the  formation  of  visible  fog,  and  we 
Bee,  also,  how  the  withdrawal  of  his  beams  may  be 
followed  by  sudden  condensation,  even  before  the 
air  has  had  any  time  to  cool.  As  long  as  the  solar 
beams  swept  through  the  valleys  of  Mortain,  every 
particle  of  water  that  came  in  their  way  was  re- 
duced to  transparent  vapour  by  the  heat  which  tlie 
particle  itself  absorbed :  or,  to  speak  more  strictly, 
in  the  presence  of  this  antagonism  precipitation 
could  not  at  all  occur,  and  the  atmosphere  remained 
consequently  clear.*  But  the  moment  the  sun  with- 
drew, the  vapour  followed,  without  opposition,  its 
o-vvn  tendency  to  condense,  and  its  sudden  curdling 
up  was  the  consequence. 

"With  regard  to  the  air,  its  temperature  may  not 
only  have  remained  sensibly  unchanged  for  some 
time  after  the  setting  of  the  sun,  but  it  may  have 
actually  become  warmer  through  the  heat  set  free 
by  the  act  of  condensation.  It  was  not,  therefore, 
the  action  of  cold  air  upon  the  vapour  which  pro- 
duced the  effect,  but  it  was  the  withdrawal  of  that 
Bolar  energy  which  water  has  the  power  to  absorb, 
and  by  absorbing  to  become  dissipated  in  true 
vapour. 

1   once   stood  with   a   friend  upon   a  mountain 

which  commands  a  view  of  the  glacier  of  the  Rhone 

'  At  this  time  I  was  brooding  over  experimenta  on  the  absorption 
of  r.idiant  heat  by  aqueous  vapour. 


CLOUDS.  411 

from  its  origin  to  its  end.  The  day  had  been  one 
of  cloudless  splendour,  and  tliere  was  something 
awful  in  the  darkness  of  the  firmament.  This  deep- 
ening of  the  blue  is  believed  by  those  who  know 
the  mountains  to  be  an  indication  of  a  humid  atmo- 
sphere. The  transparency,  however,  was  wonderful. 
The  summits  of  Mont  Cervin  and  the  Weisshorn 
stood  out  in  clear  definition,  while  the  mighty  mass 
of  the  Finsteraarhorn  rose  with  perfect  sharpness  of 
outline  close  at  hand.  As  long  as  the  sun  was  high 
tliere  was  no  trace  of  fog  in  the  valleys,  but  as  he 
sloped  to  the  west  the  shadow  of  the  Finsteraarhorn 
crept  over  the  snow-fields  at  its  base.  A  dim  sea  of 
fog  began  to  form,  which  after  a  time  rose  to  a  con- 
siderable height,  and  then  rolled  down  like  a  river 
along  the  flanks  of  the  mountain.  On  entering  the 
valley  of  the  Ehone,  it  crossed  a  precipitous  barrier, 
down  which  it  poured  like  a  cataract ;  but  long  before 
it  reached  the  bottom  it  escaped  from  the  shadow 
in  which  it  had  been  engendered,  and  was  hit  once 
more  by  the  direct  beams  of  the  sun.  Its  utter 
dissipation  was  the  consequence,  and  though  the 
billows  of  fog  rolled  on  incessantly  from  behind, 
the  cloud-river  made  no  progress,  but  disappeared, 
as  if  by  magic,  where  the  sunbeams  played  upon  it. 
The  conditions  were  analogous  to  those  which  hold 
in  the  case  of  a  glacier.  Here  the  ice-river  is 
incessantly  nourished  by   the   mountain   snow :   it 


(12 


CLOCTDS. 


moves  down  its  valley,  but  does  not  advance  in 
front.  At  a  certain  point  the  consumption  by 
melting  is  equal  to  the  supply,  and  here  the  glacier 
ceases.  In  the  case  before  us  the  cloud-river, 
nourished  by  the  incessant  condensation  of  the 
atmospheric  vapour,  moved  down  its  valley,  but 
ceased  at  the  point  where  the  dissipating  action  of 
the  sunbeams  equalled  the  supply  from  the  cloud - 
generator  behind. 


I860]  £ILLARN£Y.  413 


VL 

KILLARNEY. 

The  total  amount  of  heat  which  the  sun  sends 
annually  to  the  earth  is  invariable,  and  hence  if 
any  portion  of  the  earth's  surface  during  any  given 
year  be  colder  than  ordinary,  we  may  infer  with 
certainty  that  some  other  portion  of  the  surface 
is  then  warmer  than  ordinary.  The  port  of  Odessa 
owes  its  importance  to  a  case  of  atmospheric  com- 
pensation of  this  kind.  Forty  or  fifty  years  ago, 
Western  Europe  received  less  than  its  normal 
amount  of  heat;  the  missing  sunbeams  fell  upon 
the  East,  and  Odessa  became,  to  some  extent,  the 
granary  from  which  the  hungry  West  was  fed.  The 
position  it  then  assumed  it  has  since  maintained. 
The  atmosphere  is  the  grand  distributor  of  heat. 
It  has  its  cold  and  warm  currents — vast  aerial 
rivers,  which  chill  or  cheer  according  to  the  proxi- 
mate sources  from  whicli  they  are  derived.  In  this 
present  year  1860  the  British  Isles  appear  to  lie 
near  the  common  boundary  of  two  such  currents 
— the  limit,  however,  shifting  so  as  to  cause  both 


414  KILLARNET.  [1860 

to  pass  over  us  in  swift  succession.  Near  this 
boundary  line  the  atmospheric  currents  mingle, 
and  the  copious  aqueous  precipitation  which  we 
now  observe  is  the  result. 

Superadded  to  this  source  of  general  rain,  we 
have  at  Killarney  local  condensers  in  the  neigh- 
bouring mountains.  Round  the  cool  crests  of 
Carrantual  and  his  peaked  and  craggy  brothers  the 
moist  and  tilted  south-west  wind  curdles  ceaselessly 
into  clouds,  which  nourish  the  moss  and  heather 
whose  decomposition  produces  the  peat  which 
clothes  the  disintegrated  rocks.  Grandly  the  vast 
cumuli  build  themselves  in  the  atmosphere,  hanging 
at  times  lazily  over  the  mountains  and  mottling 
with  their  shadows  the  brown  sides  of  the  hills. 
Reddened  by  the  evening  sun,  these  clouds  cast 
their  hues  upon  the  lakes,  the  crisped  surface  of 
which  breaks  up  their  images  into  broad  spaces  of 
diffused  crimson  light.  On  other  days  the  cumuli 
seem  whipped  into  dust,  and  scattered  through  the 
general  air,  mixing  therewith  as  the  smoke  of 
London  mingles  with  the  supernatant  atmosphere. 
Day  by  day  the  guides  prophesy  fine  weather — the 
blackest  cloud  is  '  all  for  hate.'  You  are  assured 
that  if  you  start  to-day  you  will  not  get  '  a  single 
dhrop '  of  rain  ;  you  go,  and  are  drenched ;  but  the 
guide's  purpose  is  accomplished,  the  moderate  sum  of 
three  and  sixpence  being  added  to  his  private  store 


I860]  KILLARNET.  415 

In  ages  past  these  mountain  condensers  acted 
differently.  The  wet  winds  of  the  ocean,  which  now 
descend  in  liquid  showers  upon  the  hills,  once 
discharged  their  contents  as  snow.  And  a  famous 
deposit  they  must  have  made.  In  addition  to  the 
charms  which  this  region  presents  to  every  eye, 
the  mind  of  him  who  can  read  the  rocks  aright 
is  carried  back  to  a  time  when  deep  snowbeds 
cumbered  the  mountain-slopes,  and  vast  glaciers 
filled  the  vales.  In  neither  England  nor  Wales  do 
the  traces  of  glacial  action  reach  the  magnitude 
which  they  exhibit  here. 

The  Grap  of  Dunloe  is  the  channel  of  an  ancient 
glacier;  and  all  through  it  the  scratching  and 
polishing  may  be  traced.  The  flanks  of  the  Purple 
Mountain  have  been  planed  down  by  the  moving 
ice,  and  the  rocky  amphitheatre  which  the  guides 
choose  for  the  production  of  echoes  has  been  scooped 
and  polished  by  the  same  agency.  Near  the  point 
where  the  road  from  the  Grap  joins  that  up  the  Black 
Valley  is  a  slab  of  rock,  which  rivals  the  famous 
Hollen  Platte  in  Haslithal.  The  Black  Valley, 
indeed,  was  the  mould  through  which  a  great  glacier 
from  the  adjacent  mountains  moved,  '  unhasting, 
unresting,'  grinding  the  rocks  right  and  left,  and 
filling  the  entire  basin  now  occupied  by  the  waters 
of  the  Upper  Lake.  A.11  the  islands  of  this  lake 
are  glacier   domes      The  shapes,  moreover,   which 


416  KILLAKNET.  [1860 

have  suggested  the  fanciful  names  given  to  some 
of  the  rocks  are  entirely  due  to  the  planing  of  the 
ice.  The  '  Cannon  Kock,'  the  '  Giant's  Coffin,'  the 
*  Man-of-War,'  and  others,  owe  their  forms  to  the 
mighty  moulding-plane  which  in  bygone  ages  passed 
over  them. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  echoes  in  the  Gap  of  Dunloe. 
They  are  very  fine,  and  are  usually  awakened  by  a 
guide  who  plays  a  bugle,  and  to  whom  extra  wages 
are  paid  on  this  account.  The  man  times  his 
operations  so  that  the  echo  and  the  original  sound 
shall  not  overlap,  and  he  usually  places  his  guests 
behind  a  hill-brow,  which  partially  cuts  away  the 
direct  sound,  but  offers  no  impediment  to  the  echoes. 
He  flourishes  his  trumpet,  and  pauses ;  the  rocks 
respond,  the  first  return  of  the  sound  being  almost 
as  strong  as  the  blast  itself;  the  sonorous  pulses  leap 
from  crag  to  crag,  and  from  them  to  the  listener's 
ear,  diminishing  in  intensity  and  augmenting  in 
softness  the  oftener  they  are  reflected.  Moore's 
melody  of  '  The  Meeting  of  the  Waters,'  suitably 
played,  is  thus  returned  with  exquisite  sweetness  by 
the  reflecting  rocks. 

The  rain  here  is  pitiless,  but  the  march  of  the 
showering  clouds  over  the  mountains  is  sometimes 
very  grand.  One  really  good  day  is  all  that  I  have 
been  able  to  number  out  of  six  spent  on  the  banks 
of  tlie  Lower  Lake,  and  even  that  day  was  ushered 


186UJ  killahnet.  417 

in  by  heavy  rain.  Afterwards,  however,  the  cloud 
held  broke,  and  the  condensed  vapours  rolled  them- 
selves up  into  sphered  masses,  which  sailed  majesti- 
cally through  the  ether.  With  some  other  visitors 
I  rowed  to  the  Upper  Lake,  landed  at  the  base  of 
the  Purple  Mountain,  and  with  one  companion 
climbed  the  latter  to  its  crest.  This  is  covered  by 
loose  masses  of  stone  of  a  purplish  hue,  from  which 
the  mountain  derives  its  name. 

,  A  few  days  previously  I  had  been  on  the  top  of 
Mangerton,  a  spot  selected  by  the  guides  as  afford- 
ing a  prospect  of  the  entire  region  of  the  Lakes. 
But  Mangerton  is  a  stupid  mountain,  and  it  is 
climbed  by  a  wearisome  pony  track.  It  is  incom- 
parably inferior  to  the  Purple  Mountain.  From 
the  latter,  on  one  side,  we  look  into  the  heart  of 
Magillicuddy's  Eeeks,  and  shake  hands  with  Car- 
rantual  across  the  Gap  of  Dunloe.  It  commands  a 
splendid  mountain  panorama,  and  on  the  occasion 
of  my  visit  showed  the  Keeks  in  their  ti'ue  character, 
as  cloud-generators.  A  light  wind  swept  across 
them.  Far  to  westward,  towards  the  sea,  the  air 
was  cloudless ;  but  over  the  Eeeks  its  moisture  was 
densely  precipitated,  and  formed  there  a  canopy 
which  threw  an  inky  gloom  upon  the  mountains. 
The  clouds  sometimes  descended  so  as  to  touch 
the  summits,  but  for  the  most  part  they  floated  a 
little  way  above  them,  leaving  the  jagged  outlines 


418  KILLARNEY.  [1«8n 

clea.r.  From  the  Eeeks  the  clouds  were  wafted 
westward  ;  but  here,  meeting  with  warmer  air,  they 
diminished  in  size,  the  smaller  ones  melting  quite 
away.  Below  us  gleamed  the  Upper  Lake,  running 
in  and  out  amid  the  mountains,  fringed  with  woods 
and  studded  with  islands  covered  with  sunny  foliage. 
From  this  lake  a  long,  sinuous,  and  narrow  outlet, 
called  the  Long  Eange,  runs  to  the  Middle  Lake. 
The  suddenness  with  which  this  lovely  sheet  of 
water  opens  on  quitting  the  Long  Eange  constitutes 
perhaps  the  greatest  surprise  which  the  traveller 
here  encounters. 

We  walked  along  the  ridge  of  the  Purple  Moun- 
tain ankle  deep  in  elastic  moss,  with  glorious  views 
at  either  side.  Arrived  at  the  end  of  its  greatest 
spur,  the  Middle  and  Lower  Lakes  witli  their 
islands,  and  the  wooded  and  tortuous  peninsula 
between  them,  lay  before  us.  No  view  of  the 
English  lakes  known  to  me  could  compete  in  loveli- 
ness with  this  one.  We  passed  onward  through  the 
heather  to  the  brow  above  the  Bay  of  Glena,  and 
there  clambered  down  the  mountain,  helping  our- 
selves by  the  trees  which  grasped  with  gnarled  roots 
the  mossed  and  slippy  crags.  At  Glena  we  met 
our  boat,  and  were  rowed  over  the  jerking  waves  to 
the  island  of  Innisfallen,  and  thence  to  our  hotel. 
Various  bits  of  climbing  were  accomplished  during 
my  stay,  and  almost  in  every  case  in  opposition  to 


I860]  KILLARNEY.  419 

the  guides.  The  Eagle  Eock,  for  example,  a  truly 
noble  mass,  and  others,  were  climbed,  amid  emphatic 
enunciations  of  '  impossible.'  Yet  these  guides  and 
boatmen  are  fine,  hardy  fellows,  and  of  great 
endm-ance,  but  they  appear  averse  to  trying  their 
strength  under  new  conditions. 

I  write  on  a  drenching  day,  and  a  strong  wind 
which  wails  dismally  round  the  house  has  roused 
the  Lower  Lake  to  foam  and  fury.  Innisfallen 
looms  feebly  through  the  grey  haze,  but  the  opposite 
Toumies  mountains  are  plunged  in  impenetrable 
gloom.  All  round  the  horizon  is  built  a  black 
cloud-wall,  but  the  zenithal  heaven  is  clear.  Over 
the  coping  of  this  thunderous  bulwark  the  sun 
shoots  his  rays,  which,  meeting  the  dropping  cloud 
of  the  opposite  heaven,  paint  upon  it  a  complete 
and  magnificent  bow.  Here  the  white  beam  enters 
the  front  of  the  falling  drop,  and  is  reflected  at  its 
back,  emerging  unravelled  to  its  component  hues. 
But  the  condition  is,  that  after  being  thus  un- 
ravelled, the  coloured  rays  shall  not  diverge  on 
quitting  the  drop.  If  they  did,  they  would  be  lost 
immediately  to  the  senses  ;  but  they  are  squeezed 
together  to  parallel  sheaves,  and  thus  their  intensity 
is  preserved  through  long  aerial  distances.  Above  the 
vivid  bow  hangs  its  spectral  secondary  brother,  in  which 
a  double  reflection  within  each  raindrop  enfeebles 
the  colours,  and  inverts  the  order  of  succession. 


420  KILLARNET.  [1860 

Touched  by  the  wand  of  law,  the  dross  of  facts 
becomes  gold,  the  meanest  being  raised  thereby  to 
brotherhood  with  the  highest.  Thus  the  smoke  of 
an  Irish  cabin  lifts  our  speculations  to  the  heavenly 
dome.  We  look  through  the  cloudless  air  at  the 
darkness  of  infinite  space,  and  are  met  by  the  azure 
of  the  firmament — ^we  look  through  a  long  reach 
of  the  same  atmosphere  at  the  bright  sun  or  moon 
and  see  them  orange  or  red.  We  look  through  the 
peat-smoke  at  a  black  rock,  or  at  the  dark  branches 
of  a  yew,  and  see  the  smoke  blue — we  look  through 
the  same  smoke  at  a  cloud  illuminated  to  whiteness 
by  the  sun  and  find  the  smoke  red.  The  selfsame 
column  of  smoke  may  be  projected  against  a  bright 
and  a  dark  portion  of  the  same  cloud,  and  thus 
made  to  appear  blue  and  red  at  the  same  time. 
The  blue  belongs  to  the  light  reflected  from  the 
smoke ;  the  red  to  the  light  transmitted  through 
it.  In  like  manner,  the  hues  of  the  atmosphere  are 
not  due  to  colouring  matter,  but  to  the  fact  of 
its  being  a  turbid  medium.  Through  this  we  look 
at  the  blackness  of  unillumined  space  and  see  the 
blue ;  at  the  western  heaven  at  sunset,  and  meet 
that  light  which  steeps  the  clouds  of  evening  in 
orange  and  crimson  dyes. 


1860]  SNOWDOiS    IN   WrNTJSB.  421 


vn. 

S NO  WD  ON  IN   WINTER. 

Tainted  by  the  city  air,  and  with  gases  nut  natural 
even  to  the  atmosphere  of  London,  I  gladly  chimed 
in  with  the  proposal  of  an  experienced  friend  to 
live  four  clear  days  at  Christmas  on  Welsh  mutton 
and  mountain  air.  On  the  evening  of  the  26th  of 
December  1 860  Mr.  Busk,  Mr.  Huxley,  and  I  found 
ourselves  at  the  Penryhn  Arms  Hotel  in  Bangor. 
Next  morning  we  started  betimes.  The  wind  had 
howled  angrily  during  the  night.  It  now  swept  over 
the  frozen  road,  carrying  the  looser  snow  along  with  it, 
shooting  the  crystals  with  projectile  force  against 
our  feces,  and  compelling  us  to  lean  forward  at  a 
considerable  angle  to  keep  upon  our  feet.  Our 
destination  was  Capel  Curig,  with  a  prospective 
design  upon  Snowdon  ;  but  we  had  no  batons  fit  for 
the  ascent.  At  Bethesda,  however,  after  many  vain 
enquiries  in  Welsh  and  English  about  walking-sticks, 
we  found  a  shop  which  embraced  among  its  multi- 
tudinous contents  a  sheaf  of  rake-handles.  Two  of 
these  we  purchased  at  fourpcncc  each,  and  had  them 
19 


422  SNOWDON    IN   WINTER.  [1860 

afterwards  furnislied  with  rings  and  iron  spikes,  at 
the  total  cost  of  one  shilling.  Thus  provided,  we 
hoped  that  '  old  Snowdon's  craggy  chaos '  might  be 
invaded  with  a  hope  of  success. 

On  the  morning  of  the  28th  we  issued  from  our 
hotel.  A  pale  blue,  dashed  with  ochre,  and  blending 
to  a  most  delicate  green,  overspread  a  portion  of 
the  eastern  sky.  Grey  cumuli,  tinged  ruddily  here 
and  there  as  they  caught  the  morning  light,  swung 
aloft,  but  melted  more  and  more  as  the  day  advanced. 
The  eastern  mountains  were  all  thickly  covered  with 
newly  fallen  snow.  The  effect  was  unspeakably 
lovely.  In  front  of  us  was  Snowdon ;  over  it  and 
behind  it  the  atmosphere  was  closely  packed  with 
dense  brown  haze,  the  lower  filaments  of  which 
reached  almost  half-way  down  the  mountain,  but 
still  left  all  its  outline  clearly  visible  through  the 
attenuated  fog.  No  ray  of  sunlight  fell  upon  the 
hill,  and  the  face  which  it  turned  towards  us,  too 
steep  to  hold  the  snow,  exhibited  a  precipitous  slope 
of  rock,  faintly  tinted  by  the  blue  grey  of  its  icy 
enamel.  Below  us  was  Llyn  Mymbyr,  a  frozen 
plain;  behind  us  the  hills  were  flooded  with  sunlight, 
and  here  and  there  from  the  shaded  slopes,  which 
were  illuminated  chiefly  by  the  light  of  the  firma- 
ment, shimmered  a  most  delicate  blue. 

This  beautiful  effect  deserves  a  word  of  notice  ; 
many  doubtless  have  observed  it  during  the  late  snow. 


1860]  SNOWDON    IN    WINTER.  423 

Ten  days  ago,  in  diiving  from  Kirtlington  to  Grlymp- 
ton,  the  window  of  my  cab  became  partially  opaque 
by  the  condensation  of  the  vapour  of  respiration. 
With  the  finger-ends  little  apertures  were  made  in 
the  coating,  and  when  viewed  through  these  the 
snow-covered  landscape  flashed  incessantly  with 
blue  gleams.  They  rose  from  the  shadows  of 
objects  along  the  road,  which  shadows  were  illumi- 
nated by  the  light  of  the  sky.  The  blue  light  is 
best  seen  when  the  eye  is  in  motion,  thus  causing 
the  images  of  the  shadows  to  pass  over  different 
parts  of  the  retina.  The  whole  shadow  of  a  tree 
may  thus  be  seen  with  stem  and  branches  of  the 
most  delicate  blue.  I  have  seen  similar  effects 
upon  the  fresh  neves  of  the  Alps,  the  shadow  being 
that  of  the  human  body  looked  at  through  an 
aperture  in  a  handkerchief  thrown  over  the  face. 
The  same  splendid  effect  was  once  exhibited  in  a 
manner  never  to  be  forgotten  by  those  who  witnessed 
it,  on  the  sudden  opening  of  a  tent-door  at  sunrise 
on  the  summit  of  Mont  Blanc. 

At  Pen-y-Gwrid  Busk  halted,  purposing  to  descend 
to  Llanberis  by  the  road,  while  Huxley  and  I  went 
forward  to  the  small  public-house  known  as  Pen 
Pass.  Here  our  guide,  Eobert  Hughes,  a  powerful 
but  elderly  man,  refreshed  himself,  and  we  quitted 
the  road  and  proceeded  for  a  short  distance  along  a 
car-track  which   seemed  to  wind  round   a  spur  of 


424  SNOWBON   IN   WINTER.  [1860 

Snowdon.  'Is  there  no  shorter  way  up?'  we  de- 
manded. '  Yes ;  but  I  fear  it  is  now  impracticable,' 
was  the  reply.  '  Gro  straight  on,'  said  Huxley,  '  and 
do  not  fear  us.' 

Up  the  man  went  with  a  spurt,  suddenly  putting 
on  all  his  steam.  The  whisky  of  Pen  Pass  had 
given  him  a  flash  of  energy,  which  we  well  knew 
could  not  last.  In  fact,  the  guide,  though  he 
acquitted  himself  admirably  during  the  day,  had 
at  first  no  notion  that  we  should  reach  the  summit ; 
and  this  made  him  careless  of  preserving  himself 
at  the  outset.  Toning  him  down  a  little,  we  went 
forward  at  a  calmer  pace.  Crossing  the  spur,  we 
came  upon  a  pony-track  on  the  opposite  side.  It 
was  rendered  conspicuous  by  the  unbroken  layer  of 
snow  which  rested  on  it.  Huxley  took  the  lead, 
wading  knee-deep  for  nearly  an  hour. 

I,  wishing  to  escape  this  labour,  climbed  the 
slopes  to  the  right,  and  sought  a  way  over  the 
less  loaded  bosses  of  the  mountain.  On  our  re- 
marking to  Hughes  that  ho  had  never  assailed 
Snowdon  under  such  conditions,  he  replied  that  he 
had,  and  under  worse.  The  1 2th  of  April  last,  he 
affirmed,  was  a  worse  day,  and  he  had  led  a  lady 
on  that  day  almost  to  the  summit.  Unluckily  for 
him,  there  was  a  smack  of  '  bounce '  in  the  reply. 
It  caused  us  to  conclude  that  the  same  energy  which 
had  led  the  lady  could  lead  us,  and  hence,  when 


860]  SNOWDON   IH.-WINTEK.  425 

Huxley  fell  back,  the  guide  was  sent  to  the  front, 
to  break  the  way.  He  did  this  manfully  for  nearly 
an  hour,  at  the  end  of  which  he  seemed  very  jaded, 
and  as  he  sat  resting  on  a  comer  of  rock  I  asked 
him  whether  he  was  tired.  '  I  am,'  was  his  reply. 
Huxley  gave  him  a  sip  of  brandy,  and  I  came  for 
a  short  time  to  the  front. 

I  had  no  gaiters,  and  my  boots  were  incessantly 
filled  with  snow.  My  own  heat  sufficed  for  a 
time  to  melt  the  snow ;  but  this  clearly  could  not 
go  on  for  ever.  My  left  lieel  first  became  numbed 
and  painful ;  and  this  increased  till  both  feet  were 
in  great  distress.  I  sought  relief  by  quitting  the 
track  and  trying  to  get  along  the  impending  shingle 
to  the  right.  The  high  ridges  afforded  me  some 
relief,  but  they  were  separated  by  couloirs  in  which 
the  snow  had  accumulated,  and  through  which  I 
sometimes  floundered  waist-deep.  The  pain  at 
length  became  unbearable ;  I  sat  down,  took  off 
my  boots  and  emptied  them ;  put  them  on  again ; 
tied  Huxley's  pocket  handkerchief  round  one  ankle, 
and  my  own  round  the  other,  and  went  forward 
once  more.  It  was  a  great  improvement — the  pain 
vanished,  and  did  not  return. 

The  scene  was  grand  in  the  extreme.  Before  us  were 
the  buttresses  of  Snowdon,  crowned  by  his  conical 
peak ;  while  below  us  were  three  llyns,  black  as  ink, 
and  contracting  additional  gloom  from  the  shadow  of 


426  SNOWDON   IN   WIKTEH.  [186(1 

the  mountain.  The  lines  of  weathering  had  caused 
the  frozen  rime  to  deposit  itself  upon  the  rocks,  as 
on  the  tendrils  of  a  vine,  the  crags  being  fantasti- 
cally wreathed  with  runners  of  ice.  The  summit, 
when  we  looked  at  it,  damped  our  ardour  a  little  ; 
it  seemed  very  distant,  and  the  day  was  sinking  fast. 
From  the  summit  the  mountain  sloped  downward 
to  a  col  which  linked  it  with  a  bold  eminence  to 
our  right.  At  the  col  we  aimed,  and  half  an  hour 
before  reaching  it  we  passed  the  steepest  portion  of 
the  track.  This  I  quitted,  seeking  to  cut  oflf  the  zig- 
zags, but  gained  nothing  but  trouble  by  the  attempt. 
This  difficulty  conquered,  the  col  was  clearly  within 
reach ;  on  its  curve  we  met  a  fine  snow  cornice, 
through  which  we  broke  at  a  plunge,  and  gained 
safe  footing  on  tlie  mountain-rim.  The  health  and 
gladness  of  that  moment  were  a  full  recompense 
for  the  entire  journey  into  Wales. 

We  went  upward  along  the  edge  of  the  cone 
with  the  noble  sweep  of  the  snow  cornice  at  our 
Jeft.  The  huts  at  the  top  were  all  cased  in  ice, 
and  from  their  chimneys  and  projections  the  snow 
was  dra^vn  into  a  kind  of  plumage  by  the  wind. 
The  crystals  had  set  themselves  so  as  to  present  the 
exact  appearance  of  feathers,  and  in  some  cases 
these  were  stuck  against  a  common  axis,  so  as  ac- 
curately to  resemble  the  plumes  in  soldiers'  caps. 


«60]  SNOWDON   IN   WINTER.  427 

It  was  3  o'clock  when  we  gained  the  summit.  Above 
and  behind  us  the  heavens  were  of  the  densest  grey ; 
towards  the  western  horizon  this  was  broken  by  belts 
of  fiery  red,  which  nearer  the  sun  brightened  to 
orange  and  yellow.  The  moimtains  of  Flintsliire 
were  flooded  with  glory,  and  later  on,  through  the 
gaps  in  the  ranges,  the  sunlight  was  poured  in 
coloured  beams,  which  could  be  tracked  through  the 
air  to  the  places  on  which  their  radiance  fell.  The 
scene  would  bear  comparison  with  the  splendours 
of  the  Alps  themselves. 

Next  day  we  ascended  the  pass  of  Llanberis.  The 
waterfalls,  stiffened  into  pillars  of  blue  ice,  gave  it  a 
grandeur  which  it  might  not  otherwise  exhibit. 
The  wind,  moreover,  was  violent,  and  shook  clouds 
of  snow-dust  from  the  mountain-heads.  We  de- 
scended from  Pen-y-Gwrid  to  Beddgelert.  What 
splendid  skating  surfaces  the  lakes  presented — so 
smooth  as  scarcely  to  distort  the  images  of  the  hills ! 
A  snow-storm  caught  us  before  we  reached  our  hotel. 
This  melted  to  rain  during  the  night.  Next  day  we 
engaged  a  carriage  for  Carnarvon,  but  had  not  pro- 
ceeded more  than  two  miles  when  we  were  stopped 
by  the  snow.  Huge  barriers  of  it  were  drifted  across 
the  road;  and  not  until  the  impossibility  of  the 
thing  was  clearly  demonstrated  did  we  allow  the 
postilion  to  back  out  of  his  engagement.      Luckily 


428  SNOWDON    IN    WINTER.  [1860 

our  luggage  was  portable.  Strapping  our  bags  and 
knapsacks  on  our  shoulders,  partly  through  the 
fields,  and  partly  along  the  less  enciunbered  por- 
tions of  the  road,  we  reached  Carnarvon  on  foot,  and 
the  evening  of  the  31st  of  December  saw  us  safe 
in  London. 


I870J  VOYAGE   TO    ALGERIA.  429 


VIII. 

VOYAGE    TO    ALGERIA    TO     OBSERVE    THE 
ECLIPSE. 

The  opening  of  the  Eclipse  Expedition  was  not  pro- 
pitious. Portsmouth,  on  the  5th  of  December  1870, 
was  swathed  by  a  fog,  which  was  intensified  by  smoke, 
and  traversed  by  a  drizzle  of  fine  rain.  At  six  p.m.  I 
was  on  board  the  '  Urgent.'  On  Tuesday  morning  the 
weather  was  too  thick  to  permit  of  the  ship's  being 
swung  and  her  compasses  calibrated.  The  Admiral 
of  the  port,  a  man  of  very  noble  presence,  came  on 
board.  Under  his  stimulus  the  energy  which  the 
weather  had  damped  appeared  to  become  more  ac- 
tive, and  soon  after  his  departure  we  steamed  down 
to  Spithead.  Here  the  fog  had  so  far  lightened  as 
to  enable  the  officers  to  swing  the  ship. 

At  three  p.m.  on  Tuesday  the  6th  of  December 
we  got  away,  gliding  successively  past  Whitecliff 
Bay,  Bembridge,  Sandown,  Shanklin,  Ventnor,  and 
St.  Catherine's  Lighthouse.  On  Wednesday  morning 
we  sighted  the  Isle  of  Ushant,  on  the  French  side  of 
the  Channel.  The  northern  end  of  the  island  has 
been  fretted  by  the  waves  into  detached  tower-like 


430  YOYAGE   TO    ALGERIA.  [1870 

masses  of  rock  of  very  remarkable  appearance.  In 
the  Channel  the  sea  was  green,  and  opposite  Ushant 
it  was  a  brighter  green.  On  Wednesday  evening  we 
committed  ourselves  to  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  The  roll 
of  the  Atlantic  was  full,  but  not  violent.  There  had 
been  scarcely  a  gleam  of  sunshine  throughout  the 
day,  but  the  cloud-forms  were  fine,  and  their  apparent 
solidity  impressive.  On  Thursday  morning  I  rose 
refreshed,  and  found  the  green  of  the  sea  displaced 
by  a  deep  indigo  blue.  The  whole  of  Thursday  we 
steamed  across  the  bay.  We  had  little  blue  sky,  but 
the  clouds  were  again  grand  and  varied — cirrus, 
stratus,  cumulus,  and  nimbus,  we  had  them  all. 
Dusky  hairlike  trails  were  sometimes  dropped  from 
the  distant  clouds  to  the  sea.  These  were  falling 
showers,  and  they  sometimes  occupied  the  whole 
horizon,  while  we  steamed  across  the  rainless  circle 
which  was  thus  surrounded.  Sometimes  we  plunged 
into  the  rain,  and  once  or  twice,  by  slightly  changing 
course,  avoided  a  heavy  shower.  From  time  to  time 
perfect  rainbows  spanned  the  heavens  from  side  to  side. 
At  times  a  bow  would  appear  in  fragments,  showing 
tlie  keystone  of  the  arch  midway  in  air,  and  its  two 
buttresses  on  the  horizon.  In  all  cases  the  light  of  the 
bow  could  be  quenched  by  a  Nicol's  prism,  with  its 
long  diagonal  tangent  to  the  arc.  Sometimes  gleam- 
ing patches  of  the  firmament  were  seen  amid  the 
clouds.     When  viewed  in  the  proper  direction,  tbe 


1870]  VOYAGE   TO   ALGERIA,  431 

gleam  could  be  quenclied  by  a  Mcol  prism,  a  dark 
aperture  being  thus  opened  into  stellar  space. 

At  sunset  on  Thursday  the  denser  clouds  were 
fiercely  fringed,  while  through  the  lighter  ones 
seemed  to  issue  the  glow  of  a  conflagration.  On 
Friday  morning  we  sighted  Cape  Finisterre,  the 
extreme  end  of  the  arc  which  sweeps  from  Ushant 
round  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  Calm  spaces  of  blue,  in 
which  floated  quietly  scraps  of  cumuli,  were  behind 
us,  but  in  front  of  us  was  a  horizon  of  portentous 
darkness.  It  continued  thus  threatening  throughout 
the  day.  Towards  evening  the  wind  strengthened  to 
a  gale,  and  at  dinner  it  was  diflScult  to  preserve  the 
plates  and  dishes  from  destruction.  Our  thinned 
company  hinted  that  the  rolling  had  other  conse- 
quences. It  was  very  wild  when  we  went  to  bed. 
I  slumbered  and  slept,  but  after  some  time  was 
rendered  actively  conscious  that  my  body  had  become 
a  kind  of  projectile,  which  had  the  ship's  side  for  a 
target.  I  gripped  the  edge  of  my  berth  to  save  my- 
self from  being  thrown  out.  Outside,  I  could  hear 
somebody  say  that  he  had  been  thrown  from  his 
berth,  and  sent  spinning  to  the  other  side  of  the 
saloon.  The  screw  laboured  violently  amid  the 
lurching ;  it  incessantly  quitted  the  water,  and, 
twirling  in  the  air,  rattled  against  its  bearings,  and 
caused  the  ship  to  shudder  from  stem  to  stern.  At 
times  the  waves  struck  us,  not  with  the  soft  impact 


432  VOYAGE   TO   ALGERIA.  [1879 

which  might  be  expected  from  a  liquid,,  but  with  the 
sudden  solid  shock  of  battering-rams.  *No  inan 
knows  the  force  of  water,'  said  one  of  the  officers, 
'  until  he  has  experienced  a  storm  at  sea.'  These 
blows  followed  each  other  at  quicker  intervals,  the 
screw  rattling  after  each  of  them,  until,  finally,  the 
delivery  of  a  heavier  stroke  than  ordinary  seemed 
to  reduce  the  saloon  to  chaos.  Furniture  crashed, 
glasses  rang,  and  alarmed  enquiries  immediately  fol- 
lowed. Amid  the  noises  I  heard  one  note  of  forced 
laughter ;  it  sounded  very  ghastly.  Men  tramped 
through  the  saloon,  and  busy  voices  were  heard  aft, 
as  if  something  there  had  gone  wrong. 

I  rose,  and  not  without  difficulty  got  into  my 
clothes.  In  the  after-cabin,  under  the  superinten- 
dence of  the  able  and  energetic  navigating  lieutenant, 
Mr.  Brown,  a  group  of  blue-jackets  were  working  at 
the  tiller-ropes.  These  had  become  loose,  and  the 
helm  refused  to  answer  the  wheel.  High  moral 
lessons  might  be  gained  on  shipboard  by  observing 
what  steadfast  adherence  to  an  object  can  accomplish, 
and  what  large  effects  are  heaped  up  by  the  addition 
of  infinitesimals.  The  tiller-rope,  as  the  blue-jackets 
strained  in  concert,  seemed  hardly  to  move ;  still  it 
did  move  a  little,  until  finally,  by  timing  the  pull  to 
the  lurching  of  the  ship,  the  mastery  of  the  rudder 
was  obtained.  I  had  previously  gone  on  deck. 
Round  the  saloon-door  were  a  few  members  of  the 


870]  VOYAGE    TO    ALGERIA.  433 

eclipse  party,  who  seemed  in  no  mood  for  scientific 
observation.  Nor  did  I ;  but  I  wished  to  see  the 
storm.  I  climbed  the  steps  to  the  poop,  exchanged 
a  word  with  Captain  Toynbee,  the  only  member  of 
the  party  to  be  seen  on  the  poop,  and  by  his  direction 
made  towards  a  cleat  not  far  from  the  wheel, ^ 
Round  it  I  coiled  my  arms.  With  the  exception  of 
the  men  at  the  wheel,  who  stood  as  silent  as  corpses, 
I  was  alone. 

I  had  seen  grandeur  elsewhere,  but  this  was  a  new 
form  of  grandeur  to  me.  The  '  Urgent '  is  long  and 
narrow,  and  during  our  expedition  she  lacked  the 
steadying  influence  of  sufficient  ballast.  She  was  for 
a  time  practically  rudderless,  and  lay  in  the  trough 
of  the  sea.  I  could  see  the  long  ridges,  with  some 
hundreds  of  feet  between  their  crests,  rolling  upon 
the  ship  perfectly  parallel  to  her  sides.  As  they 
approached  they  so  grew  upon  the  eye  as  to  render 
the  expression  '  mountains  high '  intelligible.  At 
all  events,  there  was  no  mistaking  their  mechanical 
might,  as  they  took  the  ship  upon  their  shoulders, 
and  swung  her  like  a  pendulum.  The  poop  sloped 
sometimes  at  an  angle  which  I  estimated  at  over 
forty-five  degrees ;  wanting  my  previous  Alpine 
practice,  I  should  have  felt  less  confidence  in  my 
grip  of  the  cleat.     Here  and  there  the  long  rollers 

'  The  cleat  is  a  T-shapcd  mass  of  metal  employed  for  th« 
fastening  of  ropes. 


i34  VOYAGE   TO    ALGERIA.  Ll870 

were  tossed  by  interference  into  heaps  of  greater 
height.  The  wind  caught  their  crests,  and  scattered 
them  over  the  sea,  the  whole  surface  of  which  was 
seething  white.  The  aspect  of  the  clouds  was  a  fit 
accompaniment  to  the  fmy  of  the  ocean.  The  moon 
was  almost  full— at  times  concealed,  at  times 
revealed,  as  the  scud  flew  wildly  over  it.  These 
things  appealed  to  the  eye,  while  the  ear  was  filled 
by  the  whistle  and  boom  of  the  storm  and  the 
groaning  of  the  screw. 

Nor  was  the  outward  agitation  the  only  object  of 
interest  to  me.  I  was  at  once  subject  and  object 
to  myself,  and  watched  with  intense  interest  the 
workings  of  my  own  mind.  The  '  Urgent '  is  an 
elderly  ship.  She  had  been  built,  I  was  told,  by  a 
contracting  firm  for  some  foreign  Government,  and 
had  been  diverted  from  her  first  purpose  when  con- 
verted into  a  troop-ship.  She  had  been  for  some 
time  out  of  work,  and  I  had  heard  that  one  of  her 
boilers,  at  least,  needed  repair.  Our  scanty  but 
excellent  crew,  moreover,  did  not  belong  to  the 
'  Urgent,'  but  had  been  gathered  from  other  ships. 
Our  three  lieutenants  were  also  volunteers.  All  this 
passed  swiftly  through  my  mind  as  the  ship  shook 
under  the  blows  of  the  waves,  and  I  thought  that 
probably  no  one  on  board  could  say  how  much  of  this 
thumping  and  straining  the  '  Urgent '  would  be  able 
to   bear.      This   uncertainty   caused    me    to    look 


1870]  VOYAGE    10    ALGERIA.  435 

steadily  at   the   worst,  and  I  tried   to  strengthen 
myself  in  the  face  of  it. 

But  at  length  the  helm  laid  hold  of  the  water, 
and  the  ship  was  got  gradually  roimd  to  face  the 
waves.  The  rolling  diminished,  a  certain  amount 
of  pitching  taking  its  place.  Our  speed  had  fallen 
from  eleven  knots  to  two.  I  went  again  to  bed. 
After  a  space  of  calm,  when  we  seemed  crossing  the 
vortex  of  a  storm,  heavy  tossing  recommenced.  I 
was  afraid  to  allow  myself  to  fall  asleep,  as  my  berth 
was  high,  and  to  be  pitched  out  of  it  might  be 
attended  with  bruises,  if  not  with  fractui'es.  From 
Friday  at  noon  to  Saturday  at  noon  we  accom- 
plished sixty-six  miles,  or  an  average  of  less  than 
three  miles  an  hour.  I  overheard  the  sailors  talking 
about  this  storm.  The  '  Urgent,'  according  to  those 
that  knew  her,  had  never  previously  experienced 
anything  like  it.^ 

All  through  Saturday  the  wind,  though  somewhat 
sobered,  blew  dead  against  us.  The  atmospheric 
eflfects  were  exceedingly  fine.  The  cumuli  resembled 
mountains  in  shape,  and  their  peaked  summits  shone 
as  white  as  Alpine  snows.  At  one  place  this  resem- 
blance was  greatly  strengthened  by  a  vast  area  of 
cloud,  uniformly  illuminated,  and  lying  like  a  neve 

'  There  is,  it  will  be  seen,  a  fair  agreement  between  these 
impressions  and  those  so  vigorously  described  by  a  scientific 
correspondent  of  the  '  Times.' 


436  VOYAGE    TO    ALGERIA.  [1870 

below  the  peaks.  From  it  fell  a  kind  of  cloud-river, 
strikingly  like  a  glacier.  The  horizon  at  sunset 
was  remarkable — spaces  of  brilliant  green  between 
clouds  of  fiery  red.  Rainbows  had  been  frequent 
throughout  the  day,  and  at  night  a  perfectly  conti- 
nuous lunar  bow  spanned  the  heavens  from  side 
to  side.  Its  colours  were  feeble ;  but,  contrasted 
with  the  black  ground  against  which  it  rested,  its 
liuninousness  was  extraordinary. 

Sunday  morning  found  us  opposite  to  Lisbon,  and 
at  midnight  we  rounded  Cape  St.  Vincent,  where 
the  lurching  seemed  disposed  to  recommence. 
Through  the  kindness  of  Lieutenant  Walton,  a  cot 
had  been  slung  for  me.  It  hung  between  a  tiller- 
wheel  and  a  flue,  and  at  one  a.m.  I  was  roused  by 
the  banging  of  the  cot  against  its  boundaries. 
But  the  wind  was  now  behind  us,  and  we  went  along 
at  a  speed  of  eleven  knots.  We  felt  certain  of  reach- 
ing Cadiz  by  three.  But  a  new  lighthouse  came 
in  sight,  which  some  affirmed  to  be  Cadiz  lighthouse, 
while  the  surrounding  houses  were  declared  to  be 
Cadiz  itself.  Out  of  deference  to  these  statements, 
the  navigating  lieutenant  changed  his  course,  and 
steered  for  the  place.  A  pilot  came  on  board,  and  he 
informed  us  that  we  were  before  the  mouth  of  tlie 
Guadalquivir,  and  that  the  lighthouse  was  that  of 
Cipiona.    Cadiz  was  still  some  eighteen  miles  distant. 

We  steered  towards  the  city,  hoping  to  get  into 


1870]  VOYAGE    "O   ALGERIA.  437 

the  harbour  before  dark.  But  the  pilot  was  snapped 
up  by  another  vessel,  and  we  did  not  get  in.  We 
beat  about  during  the  night,  and  in  the  morning 
found  ourselves  about  fifteen  miles  from  Cadiz.  The 
sun  rose  behind  the  city,  and  we  steered  straight  into 
the  light.  The  three-towered  cathedral  stood  in  the 
midst,  round  which  swarmed  apparently  a  multitude 
of  chimney-stacks.  A  nearer  approach  showed  the 
chimneys  to  be  small  turrets.  A  pilot  was  taken  on 
board ;  for  there  is  a  dangerous  shoal  in  the  harbour. 
The  appearance  of  the  town  as  the  sun  shone  upon  its 
white  and  lofty  walls  was  singularly  beautiful.  We 
cast  anchor  ;  some  ojBficials  arrived  and  demanded  a 
clean  bill  of  health.  We  had  none.  They  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  us ;  so  the  yellow  quaran- 
tine flag  was  hoisted,  and  we  waited  for  per- 
mission to  land  the  Cadiz  party.  After  some  hours 
of  delay  the  English  consul  and  vice-consul  came  on 
board,  and  with  them  a  Spanish  officer,  ablaze  with 
gold  lace  and  decorations.  Under  slight  pressure 
the  requisite  permission  had  been  granted.  We 
landed  our  party,  and  in  the  afternoon  weighed 
anchor.  Thanks  to  the  kindness  of  our  excellent  pay- 
master, I  was  here  transferred  to  a  roomier  berth. 

Cadiz  soon  sank  beneath  the  sea,  and  we  sighted 
in  succession  Cape  Trafalgar,  Tarifa,  and  the  re- 
ceiving light  of  Ceuta.  The  water  was  very  calm, 
and  the  moon  rose  in  a  quiet  heaven.     She  swung 


438  VOYAGE   TO    ALGERIA.  [1870 

with  her  com'ex  surface  downwards,  the  common 
boundary  between  light  and  shadow  being  almost 
horizontal.  A  pillar  of  reflected  light  shimmered 
up  to  us  from  the  slightly  rippled  sea.  I  had  already 
noticed  the  phosphorescence  of  the  water,  but  to- 
night it  was  stronger  than  usual,  especially  among 
the  foam  at  the  bows.  A  bucket  let  down  into  the 
sea  brought  up  a  number  of  the  little  sparkling 
organisms  which  cause  the  phosphorescence.  I 
caught  some  of  them  in  my  hand.  And  here  an 
appearance  was  observed  which  was  new  to  most  of 
us,  and  strikingly  beautiful  to  all.  Standing  at  the 
bow  and  looking  forwards,  at  a  distance  of  forty  or 
fifty  yards  from  the  ship  a  number  of  luminous 
streamers  were  seen  rushing  towards  us.  On  nearing 
the  vessel  they  rapidly  turned,  like  a  comet  round 
its  perihelion,  placed  themselves  side  by  side,  and, 
as  parallel  trails  of  light,  kept  up  with  the  ship.  One 
of  them  placed  itself  right  in  front  of  the  bow  as  a 
pioneer.  These  comets  of  the  sea  were  joined  at 
intervals  by  others.  Sometimes  as  many  as  six  at  a 
time  would  rush  at  us,  bend  with  extraordinary 
rapidity  round  a  sharp  curve,  and  afterwards  keep  us 
company.  Leaning  over  the  bow,  and  scanning  the 
streamers  closely,  the  frontal  portion  of  each  revealed 
the  outline  of  a  porpoise.  The  rush  of  the  creatures 
through  the  water  had  started  t]ie  phosphorescence, 
every  spark  of  which  was  converted  by  the  motion 


1870]  YOYAGE    TO    ALGERIA.  439 

of  the  retina  into  a  line  of  light.  Each  porpoise 
was  thus  wrapped  in  a  luminous  sheath.  The  phos- 
phorescence did  not  cease  at  the  creature's  tail,  but 
was  carried  many  porpoise-lengths  behind  it. 

To  our  right  we  had  the  African  hills,  illuminated 
by  the  moon.  Gribraltar  Eock  at  length  became 
visible,  but  the  town  remained  long  hidden  by  a  belt 
of  haze.  Through  this  at  length  the  brighter  lamps 
struggled.  It  was  like  the  gradual  resolution  of  a 
nebula  into  stars.  As  the  intervening  depth  be- 
came gradually  less  the  mist  vanished  more  and 
more,  and  finally  all  the  lamps  shone  through  it. 
They  formed  a  bright  foil  to  the  sombre  mass  of  rock 
above  them.  The  sea  was  so  calm  and  the  scene  so 
lovely  that  Mr.  Huggins  and  myself  stayed  on  deck 
till  the  ship  was  moored,  near  midnight.  During 
our  walking  to  and  fro  a  striking  enlargement  of 
the  disc  of  Jupiter  was  observed  whenever  the  heated 
air  of  the  funnels  came  between  us  and  the  planet. 
On  passing  away  from  the  heated  air,  the  flat  dim 
disc  would  immediately  shrink  to  a  luminous  point. 
The  effect  was  one  of  retinal  persistence.  The  retinal 
image  of  the  planet  was  set  quivering  in  all  azimuths 
by  the  streams  of  heated  air,  describing  in  quick 
succession  minute  lines  of  light,  which  summed 
themselves  to  a  disc  of  sensible  area. 

At  six  o'clock  next  morning  the  gun  at  the  signal 
station  on  the  summit  of  the  rock  boomed.  At  eight 


140  VOYAGE   TO    ALGERIA.  [1870 

the  band  on  board  the  '  Trafalgar '  training-ship, 
which  was  in  the  harbour,  struck  up  the  national 
anthem ;  and  immediately  afterwards  a  crowd  of 
mite-like  cadets  swarmed  up  the  rigging.  After  the 
removal  of  the  apparatus  belonging  to  the  Gibral- 
tar party  we  went  on  shore.  Winter  was  in  Eng- 
land when  we  left,  but  here  we  had  the  warmth 
of  summer.  The  vegetation  was  luxuriant — palm- 
trees,  cactuses,  and  aloes,  all  ablaze  with  scarlet 
flowers.  A  visit  to  the  Grovernor  was  proposed,  as 
an  act  of  necessary  courtesy,  and  I  accompanied  Ad- 
miral Ommaney  and  Mr.  Huggins  to  the  Convent,  or 
Grovernment  House.  We  sent  in  our  cards,  waited 
for  a  time,  and  were  then  conducted  by  an  orderly 
to  his  Excellency.  He  is  a  fine  old  man,  over  six 
foot  high,  and  of  frank  military  bearing.  He  re- 
ceived us  and  conversed  with  us  in  a  very  genial 
manner.  He  took  us  to  see  his  garden,  his  palms, 
his  shaded  promenades,  and  his  orange-trees  loaded 
with  fruit,  in  all  of  which  he  took  manifest  de- 
light. Evidently  'the  hero  of  Kars'  had  fallen 
upon  quarters  after  his  own  heart.  He  appeared  full 
of  good  nature,  and  engaged  us  on  the  spot  to  dino 
with  him  that  day. 

We  sought  the  town-major  for  a  pass  to  visit  the 
lines.  While  awaiting  his  arrival  I  purchased  a 
stock  of  white  glass  bottles,  with  a  view  to  experi- 
ments on  the  colour  of  the  sea.     Mr.  Huggins  and 


1870]  VOYAGE   TO    ALGERIA.  441 

myself,  who  wished  to  see  the  rock,  were  taken  by 
Captain  Salmond  to  the  library,  where  a  model  of 
Gibraltar  is  kept,  and  where  we  had  a  capital  pre- 
liminary lesson.  At  the  library  we  met  Colonel 
Maberly,  a  courteous  and  kindly  man,  who  gave  us 
good  advice  regarding  our  excursion.  He  sent  an 
orderly  with  us  to  the  entrance  of  the  lines.  The 
orderly  handed  us  over  to  an  intelligent  Irishman, 
who  was  directed  to  show  us  everything  that  we 
desired  to  see,  and  to  hide  nothing  from  us.  We 
took  the  '  upper  lines,'  traversed  the  galleries  hewn 
through  the  limestone,  looked  through  the  em- 
brasures, which  opened  like  doors  in  the  precipice, 
over  the  hills  of  Spain,  reached  St.  George's  Hall,  and 
went  still  higher,  emerging  on  the  summit  of  one 
o"  the  noblest  cliffs  I  have  ever  seen. 

Beyond  were  the  Spanish  lines,  marked  by  a  line 
of  white  sentry-boxes ;  nearer  were  the  English  lines, 
less  conspicuously  marked  out ;  and  between  both 
was  the  neutral  ground.  Behind  the  Spanish  lines 
was  the  conical  hill  called  the  Queen  of  Spain's 
Chair.  The  general  aspect  of  Spain  from  the  rock 
is  bold  and  rugged.  Doubling  back  from  the  gal- 
leries, we  struck  upwards  towards  the  crest,  reached 
the  signal  station,  where  we  indulged  in  shandy-gaff 
and  bread  and  cheese.  Thence  to  O'Hara's  Tower, 
the  highest  point  of  the  rock.  It  was  built  by  a 
former   Governor,   who,   forgetful   of  the    laws   of 


442  VOYAGE   TO    ALGERIA.  [1870 

terrestrial  curvature,  thought  he  might  look  from  the 
tower  into  the  port  of  Cadiz.  The  tower  is  riven, 
and  may  be  climbed  along  the  edges  of  the  crack. 
We  got  to  the  top  of  it ;  thence  descended  the 
curious  Mediterranean  Stair — a  zigzag,  mostly  of 
steps  down  a  steeply  falling  slope,  amid  palmetto 
brush,  aloes,  and  prickly  pear. 

Passing  over  the  Windmill  Hill,  we  were  joined 
at  the  '  Governor's  Cottage '  by  a  car,  and  drove  after- 
wards to  the  lighthouse  at  Europa  Point.  The  tower 
was  built,  I  believe,  by  Queen  Adelaide,  and  it  con- 
';ains  a  fine  dioptric  apparatus  of  the  first  order, 
constructed  by  the  Messrs.  Chance  of  Birmingham. 
At  the  appointed  hour  we  were  at  the  Convent. 
Dm-ing  dinner  the  same  genial  traits  which  appeared 
in  the  morning  were  still  more  conspicuous.  The 
freshness  of  the  Governor's  natm-c  showed  itself 
best  when  he  spoke  of  his  old  antagonist  in  arms, 
MouraviefF.  Chivalry  in  war  is  consistent  with  its 
stern  prosecution.  These  two  men  were  chivalrous, 
and  after  striking  the  last  blow  became  friends  for 
ever.  Our  kind  and  courteous  reception  at  Gibral- 
tar is  a  thing  to  be  remembered  with  pleasure. 

On   the    15th   of  December  we  committed  our 
selves  to  the  Mediterranean.    The  views  of  Gibraltar 
with  which  we  are  most  acquainted  represent  it  as  a 
huge  ridge ;  but  its  aspect,  end   on,  both  from  the 
Spanish  lines  and   from   the   other   side,   is   truly 


1870]  VOYAGE    TO    ALGERIA.  443 

noble.  There  is  a  sloping  bank  of  sand  at  the  back 
of  the  rock,  which  I  was  disposed  to  regard  simply 
as  the  debris  of  the  limestone.  I  wished  to  let 
myself  doAvn  upon  it,  but  had  not  the  time.  My 
friend  Mr.  Busk,  however,  assures  me  that  it  is 
silica,  and  that  the  same  sand  constitutes  the 
adjacent  neutral  ground.  There  are  theories  afloat 
as  to  its  having  been  blown  from  Sahara.  The 
Mediterranean  throughout  this  first  day,  and  indeed 
throughout  the  entire  voyage  to  Oran,  was  of  less 
deep  a  blue  than  the  Atlantic.  Possibly  the  quan- 
tity of  organisms  may  have  modified  the  colour. 
At  night  the  phosphorescence  was  delicious,  break- 
ing with  the  suddenness  of  a  snapped  spring  along 
the  crests  of  the  waves  formed  by  the  port  and 
starboard  bows.  Its  strength  was  not  uniform. 
Having  flashed  brilliantly  for  a  time,  it  would  in 
part  subside,  and  afterwards  regain  its  vigour. 
Several  large  phosphorescent  masses  of  wierd  ap- 
pearance also  floated  past. 

On  the  morning  of  the  16th  we  sighted  the  fort 
and  lighthouse  of  Marsa  el  Kibir,  and  beyond  them 
the  white  walls  of  Oran  lying  in  the  bight  of  a  bay, 
sheltered  by  dominant  hills.  The  sun  was  shining 
brightly;  during  our  whole  voyage  we  had  not  had  so 
fine  a  day.  The  wisdom  which  had  led  us  to  choose 
Oran  as  our  place  of  observation  seemed  demonstra- 
ted.     A  rather  excitable  pilot  came  on  board,  and 


444  VOYAGE   TO   ALGERIA.  [1870 

he  guided  us  in  behind  the  Mole,  which  had  suf- 
fered much  damage  last  year  from  an  unexplained 
outburst  of  waves  from  the  Mediterranean.  Both 
port  and  bow  anchors  were  cast  into  deep  water. 
With  three  huge  hawsers  the  ship's  stern  was  made 
fast  to  three  gun-pillars  fixed  in  the  Mole ;  and  here 
for  a  time  the  '  Urgent '  rested  from  her  labours. 

M.  Janssen,  who  had  rendered  his  name  celebrated 
by  his  observations  of  the  eclipse  in  India  in  1868, 
when  he  showed  the  solar  flames  to  be  eruptions  of 
incandescent  hydrogen,  was  already  encamped  in 
the  open  country  about  eight  miles  from  Oran.  On 
the  2nd  of  December  he  had  quitted  Paris  in  a 
balloon,  with  a  strong  young  sailor  as  his  assistant, 
had  descended  near  the  mouth  of  the  Loire,  seen  M. 
Gambetta,  and  received  from  him  encouragement  and 
aid.  On  the  day  of  our  arrival  his  encampment  was 
visited  by  Mr.  Huggins,  and  the  kind  and  courteous 
Engineer  of  the  Port  drove  me  subsequently  in  his 
own  phaeton  to  the  place.  It  bore  the  best  repute  as 
regards  freedom  from  haze  and  fog,  and  commanded 
an  open  outlook,  but  it  was  inconvenient  for  us  on 
account  of  its  distance  from  the  ship.  Tlie  place 
next  in  repute  was  the  railway  station,  between 
two  and  three  miles  distant  from  the  Mole.  It  was 
inspected,  but,  being  enclosed,  was  abandoned  for  an 
eminence  in  an  adjacent  garden,  the  property  of  Mr. 
Hinshelwood,a  Scotchman  who  had  settled  some  years 


1870]  VOYAGE   TO   ALGERIA.  445 

previously  as  an  esparto  merchant  in  Oran,*  and 
who  in  the  most  liberal  manner  placed  his  ground 
at  the  disposition  of  the  party.  Here  the  tents  were 
pitched  on  the  Saturday  by  Captain  Salmond  and  his 
intelligent  corps  of  sappers,  the  instruments  being 
erected  on  the  Monday  under  cover  of  the  tents. 

Close  to  the  railway  station  runs  a  new  loopholed 
wall  of  defence,  through  which  the  highway  passes 
into  the  open  country.  Standing  on  the  highway, 
and  looking  southwards,  about  twenty  yards  to  the 
right  is  a  small  bastionet,  intended  to  carry  a  gun  or 
two.  Its  roof  I  thought  would  form  an  admirable 
basis  for  my  telescope,  while  the  view  of  the  sur- 
rounding country  was  unimpeded  in  all  directions. 
The  authorities  kindly  allowed  me  the  use  of  this 
bastionet.  Two  -men,  one  a  blue-jacket  named 
Elliot,  and  the  other  a  marine  named  Hill,  were 
placed  at  my  disposal  by  Lieutenant  Walton ;  and 
thus  aided,  on  Monday  morning  I  mounted  my 
telescope.  The  instrument  was  new  to  me,  and  I 
wished  to  master  all  the  details  of  its  manipulation. 

After  some  hours  of  discipline,  and  as  the  day 
was  sobering  towards  twilight,  the  telescope  was 
dismounted  and  put  under  cover.  Mr.  Huggins 
joined  me,  and  we  visited  together  the  Arab  quarter 
of    Oran.      The   flat-roofed   houses   appeared   very 

'  Esparto  is  a  kind  of  grass  now  much  used  in  the  manufacture  <rf 
pnper. 

20 


446  YOTAGE   TO    ALGERIA.  [1870 

clean  and  white.  The  street  was  filled  with 
loiterers,  and  the  thresholds  were  occupied  by 
picturesque  groups.  Some  of  the  men  are  very 
fine ;  we  saw  many  straight,  manly  fellows  who 
must  have  been  six  foot  four  in  height.  They  passed 
us  with  perfect  indifference,  evincing  no  anger, 
suspicion,  or  curiosity,  hardly  caring  in  fact  to  glance 
at  us  as  we  passed.  In  one  instance  only  during  my 
stay  at  Oran  was  I  spoken  to  by  an  Arab.  He  was  a 
tall,  good-humoured  fellow,  who  came  smiling  up 
to  me,  and  muttered  something  about '  les  Anglais.' 
The  mixed  population  ©f  Oran  is  picturesque  in 
the  highest  degree :  the  Jews,  rich  and  poor,  vary- 
ing in  their  costumes  as  their  wealth  varies — the 
Arabs  more  picturesque  still,  and  of  all  shades  of 
complexion — the  negroes,  the  Spaniards,  the  French, 
all  grouped  together,  and  each  preserving  their 
own  individuality,  formed  a  picture  intensely  inter- 
esting me. 

On  Tuesday,  the  20tli,  I  was  early  at  the  bastionet, 
with  the  view  of  schooling  both  myself  and  my  men. 
The  night  had  been  very  squally.  The  sergeant  of 
the  sappers  took  charge  of  our  key,  and  on  Tuesday 
morning  Elliot  went  for  it.  He  brought  back  the 
intelligence  that  the  tents  had  been  blown  down, 
and  the  instruments  overturned.  Among  these  was 
a  large  and  valuable  equatorial  from  the  Royal 
Observatory,  Greenwich.     It  seemed  hardly  possible 


1870]  VOYAGE   TO   ALGERIA.  447 

tliat  this  instrument,  with  its  wheels  and  verniers 
and  delicate  adjustments,  could  have  escaped  unin- 
jured from  such  a  fall.  This,  however,  was  the  case ; 
and  during  the  day  all  the  overturned  instruments 
were  restored  to  their  places,  and  found  to  be  in 
practical  working  order.  This  and  the  following 
day  were  devoted  to  incessant  schooling.  I  had 
come  out  as  a  general  star-gazer,  and  not  with  the 
intention  of  devoting  myself  to  the  observation  of 
any  particular  phenomenon.  I  wished  to  see  the 
whole — the  first  contact,  the  advance  of  the  moon, 
and  the  successive  swallowing  up  of  the  solar  spots, 
the  breaking  of  the  last  line  of  crescent  by  the  lunar 
mountains  into  Bailey's  beads,  the  advance  of  the 
shadow  through  the  air,  the  appearance  of  the  corona 
and  prominences  at  the  moment  of  totality,  the 
radiant  streamers  of  the  corona,  the  internal  struc- 
ture of  the  flames,  a  glance  through  a  polariscope,  a 
sweep  round  the  landscape  with  the  naked  eye,  the 
reappearance  of  the  solar  limb  through  Bailey's 
beads,  and,  finally,  the  retreat  of  the  lunar  shadow 
through  the  air. 

For  these  observations  I  was  provided  with  a 
telescope  of  admirable  definition,  mounted,  adjusted, 
packed,  and  most  liberally  placed  at  my  disposal  by 
Mr.  Warren  De  la  Rue.  The  telescope  grasped  the 
whole  of  the  sun,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
space   surrounding  it.     But  it  would  not  take  in 


4.48  YOTAGE   TO   ALGERIA.  [1870 

the  probable  extreme  limits  of  the  corona.  For 
this  the  'finder'  was  suitable ;  but,  instead  of  it,  I  had 
lashed  on  to  the  large  telescope  a  light  but  powerful 
instrument,  constructed  by  Ross,  and  lent  to  me 
by  Mr.  Huggins.  I  was  also  furnished  with  an 
excellent  binocular  by  Mr.  Dallmeyer.  In  fact,  no 
man  could  have  been  more  efficiently  supported 
than  I  was.  It  required  a  strict  parcelling  out  of 
the  two  minutes  and  some  seconds  of  totality  to 
embrace  in  them  the  entire  series  of  observations. 
These,  while  the  sun  remained  visible,  were  to  be 
made  with  an  unsilvered  diagonal  eyepiece,  which 
reflected  but  a  small  fraction  of  the  sun's  light,  this 
fraction  being  still  further  toned  down  by  a  dark 
glass.  At  the  moment  of  totality  the  dark  glass 
was  to  be  removed,  and  a  silver  reflector  pushed  in, 
so  as  to  get  the  maximum  of  light  from  the  corona 
and  prominences.  The  time  of  totality  was  distri- 
buted as  follows : 

1.  Observe  approach  of  shadow  through  the  air :  totality. 

2.  Tele8cop3     .         .         .  .30  seconds. 

3.  Finder  .         .         .  .30  seconds. 

4.  Double  image  prism      .  .15  seconds. 

5.  Naked  eye   .         .         .  .10  seconds. 

6.  Pinder  or  binocular  .  .  20  seconds. 
7-  Telescope  .  .  .  .20  seconds. 
8.  Observe  retreat  of  shadow. 

It  was  proposed  to  begin  and  end  with  the  tele- 
scope,  so   that   any   change   in   the  field   of  vie>» 


1870]  VOTAGE   TO   ALGERIA.  449 

occurring  during  the  totality  might  be  noticed. 
Elliot  stood  beside  me,  watch  in  hand,  and  fur- 
nished with  a  lantern.  He  called  out  at  the  end  of 
each  interval,  and  I  moved  from  telescope  to  finder, 
from  finder  to  polariscope,  from  polariscope  to  naked 
eye,  from  naked  eye  back  to  finder,  from  finder  to 
telescope,  abandoning  the  instrument  finally  to 
observe  the  retreating  shadow.  All  this  we  went 
over  twenty  times,  while  looking  at  the  actual  sun, 
and  keeping  him  in  the  middle  of  the  field.  It  was 
my  object  to  render  the  repetition  of  the  lesson  so 
mechanical  as  to  leave  no  room  for  flurry,  forgetful- 
ness,  or  excitement.  Volition  was  not  to  be  called 
upon,  nor  judgment  exercised,  but  a  well-beaten 
path  of  routine  was  to  be  followed.  Had  the  oppor- 
tvmity  occm-red,  I  think  the  programme  would  have 
been  strictly  carried  out. 

But  the  opportunity  did  not  occur.  For  several 
days  the  weather  had  been  ill-natured.  "We  had 
wind  so  strong  as  to  render  the  hawsers  at  the  stern 
of  the  '  Urgent '  as  rigid  as  iron,  and,  therefore,  to 
destroy  the  navigating  lieutenant's  sleep.  We  had 
clouds,  a  thunder-storm,  and  some  rain.  Still  the 
hope  was  held  out  that  the  atmosphere  would 
cleanse  itself,  and  if  it  did  we  were  promised  an  air 
of  extraordinary  limpidity.  Early  on  the  22nd  we 
were  all  at  our  posts.  Spaces  of  blue  in  the  early 
morning    gave    us    some    encouragement,   but  all 


i60  VOYAGE   TO   ALGERIA.  [1870 

depended  on  the  relation  of  these  spaces  to  the 
surrounding  clouds.  Which  of  them  were  to  grow 
as  the  day  advanced  ?  The  wind  was  high,  and  to 
secure  the  steadiness  of  my  instrument  I  was  forced 
to  retreat  behind  a  projection  of  the  bastionet,  place 
stones  upon  its  stand,  and,  further,  to  avail  myself  of 
the  shelter  of  a  sail.  My  practised  men  fastened 
the  sail  at  the  top,  and  loaded  it  with  boulders  at  the 
bottom.     It  was  tried  severely,  but  it  stood  firm. 

The  clouds  and  blue  spaces  fought  for  a  time 
with  varying  success.  The  sun  was  hidden  and 
revealed  at  intervals,  hope  oscillating  in  synchronism 
with  Ihe  changes  of  the  sky.  At  the  moment  of 
first  contact  a  dense  cloud  inteiTened,  but  a  minute 
or  two  afterwards  the  cloud  had  passed,  and  the 
enchroachment  of  the  black  body  of  the  moon  was 
evident  upon  the  solar  disc.  The  moon  meirched 
onward,  and  I  saw  it  at  frequent  intervals ;  a  large 
group  of  spots  were  approached  and  swallowed  up. 
Subsequently  I  caught  sight  of  the  lunar  limb  as  it 
cut  through  the  middle  of  a  large  spot.  The  spot 
was  not  to  be  distinguished  from  the  moon,  but  rose 
like  a  mountain  above  it.  The  clouds,  when  thin, 
could  be  seen  as  grey  scud  drifting  across  the  black 
surface  of  the  moon  ;  but  they  thickened  more  and 
more,  and  made  the  intervals  of  clearness  scantier. 
During  these  moments  I  watched  with  an  interest 
bordering  upon  fascination  the  march  of  the  silvel 


1870]  VOYAGE   TO   ALGERIA.  451 

sickle  of  the  sun  across  the  field  of  the  telescope. 
It  was  so  sharp  and  so  beautiful.  No  trace  of  the 
lunar  limb  could  be  observed  beyond  the  sun's 
boundary.  Here,  indeed,  it  could  only  be  relieved 
by  the  corona,  which  was  utterly  cut  off  by  the  dark 
glass.  The  blackness  of  the  moon  beyond  the  sim 
was,  in  fact,  confounded  with  the  blackness  of 
space. 

Beside  me  was  Elliot  with  the  watch  and 
lantern,  while  Lieutenant  Archer,  of  the  Koyal 
Engineers,  ha,d  the  kindness  to  take  charge  of  my 
note-book.  I  mentioned,  and  he  wrote  rapidly 
down,  such  things  as  seemed  worthy  of  remembrance. 
Thus  my  hands  and  mind  were  entirely  free  ;  but  it 
was  all  to  no  purpose.  A  patch  of  sunlight  fell  and 
rested  upon  the  landscape  some  miles  away.  It 
was  the  only  illuminated  spot  within  view.  But  to 
the  north-west  there  was  still  a  space  of  blue  which 
might  reach  us  in  time.  Within  seven  minutes  of 
totality  another  small  space  towards  the  zenith 
became  very  dark.  The  atmosphere  was,  as  it  were, 
on  the  brink  of  a  precipice ;  it  was  charged  with 
humidity,  which  required  but  a  slight  chill  to  bring 
it  down  in  clouds.  This  was  furnished  by  the  with- 
drawal of  the  solar  beams ;  the  clouds  did  come 
down,  covering  up  the  space  of  blue  on  which  our 
hopes  had  so  long  rested.  I  abandoned  the  tele- 
scope and  walked  to  and  fro,  like  a  leopard  in  it« 


452  VOYAGE   TO    ALGERIA.  [1870 

cage.  As  the  moment  of  totality  approached,  the 
descent  towards  darkness  was  as  obvious  as  a  falling 
stone.  I  looked  towards  a  distant  ridge,  where  I 
knew  the  darkness  would  first  appear.  At  the  moment 
a  fan  of  teams,  issuing  from  the  hidden  sun,  was 
spread  out  over  the  southern  heavens.  These 
beams  are  bars  of  alternate  light  and  shade,  pro- 
duced in  illuminated  haze  by  the  shadows  of 
floating  cloudlets  of  varying  density.  The  beams 
are  really  parallel,  but  by  an  eflfect  of  perspective 
they  appear  divergent,  like  a  fan,  having  the  sun, 
in  fact,  for  their  point  of  intersection.  The  dark- 
ness took  possession  of  the  ridge  to  which  I  have 
referred,  lowered  upon  M.  Janssen's  observatory, 
passed  over  the  southern  heavens,  blotting  out  the 
beams  as  if  a  sponge  had  been  drawn  across  them. 
It  then  took  successive  possession  of  three  spaces  of 
blue  sky  in  the  south-eastern  atmosphere.  I  again 
looked  towards  the  ridge.  A  glimmer  as  of  day- 
dawn  was  behind  it,  and  immediately  afterwards 
the  fan  of  beams  which  had  been  for  more  than  two 
minutes  absent  revived.  The  eclipse  of  1870  had 
ended,  and,  as  far  as  the  corona  was  concerned, 
wc  had  been  defeated. 

Even  in  the  heart  of  the  eclipse  the  darkness  was 
by  no  means  perfect.  Small  print  could  be  read. 
In  fact,  the  clouds  which  rendered  the  day  a  dark 
one,  by  scattering  light  into  the  shadow,  rendered 


1870]  VOYAGE   TO    ALGERIA.  453 

it  less  intense  than  it  would  have  been  had  the 
atmosphere  been  without  cloud.  In  the  more  open 
spaces  I  sought  for  stars,  but  could  find  none. 
There  was  a  lull  in  the  wind  before  and  after 
totality,  but  during  the  totality  the  wind  was 
strong.  I  waited  for  some  time  on  the  bastionet, 
hoping  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the  moon  on  the  opposite 
border  of  the  sun,  but  in  vain.  The  clouds  con- 
tinued, and  some  rain  fell.  The  day  brightened 
somewhat  afterwards,  and,  having  packed  all  up,  in 
the  sober  twilight  Mr.  Crookes  and  myself  climbed 
the  heights  above  the  fort  of  Vera  Cruz.  From  this 
eminence  we  had  a  very  noble  view  over  the 
Mediterranean  and  the  flanking  African  hills.  The 
sunset  was  remarkable,  and  the  whole  outlook 
exceedingly  fine. 

The  able  and  well-instructed  medical  ofiicer  of 
the  '  Urgent,'  Mr.  Goodman,  observed  the  following 
temperatures  during  the  progress  of  the  eclipse : 


Hour 

Deg. 

Hour 

Deg. 

11.45  . 

.  66 

12.43  . 

.  61 

11.55  . 

.  55 

1.5   . 

.  52 

12.10  . 

.  54 

1.27  . 

.  53 

12.37  . 

.  63 

1.44  . 

.  66 

12.39  . 

.  52 

2.ia  . 

.  67 

The  minimum  temperature  occurred  some  minutes 
after  totality,  when  a  slight  rain  fell. 

The  wind  was  so  strong  on  the  23rd  that  Captain 
Henderson  would  not  venture  out.     Gruided  by  Mr. 


454  TOT  AGE   TO    ALGElliA.  [1876 

Goodman,  I  visited  a  cave  scooped  into  a  remarkable 
stratum  of  shell-breccia,  and,  thanks  to  my  guide, 
secured  specimens.  ISIr.  Busk  informs  me  that  a 
precisely  similar  breccia  is  found  at  Gibraltar  at 
approximately  the  same  level.  During  the  after- 
noon Admiral  Ommaney  and  myself  drove  to  the 
fort  of  Marsa  el  Kibir.  The  fortification  is  of 
ancient  origin,  the  Moorish  arches  being  still  there 
in  decay,  but  the  fort  is  now  very  strong.  About 
four  or  five  hundred  dragoons,  fine-looking  men, 
were  looking  after  their  horses,  waiting  for  a  lull  to 
enable  them  to  embark  for  France.  One  of  their 
officers  was  wandering  in  a  very  solitary  fashion  over 
the  fort.  We  had  some  conversation  with  him.  He 
had  been  at  Sedan,  had  been  taken  -prisoner,  but 
had  effected  his  escape.  He  shook  his  head  when 
we  spoke  of  the  termination  of  the  war,  and  pre- 
dicted its  long  continuance.  There  was  bitterness 
in  his  tone  as  he  spoke  of  the  charges  of  treason 
which  had  been  so  lightly  levelled  against  French 
commanders.  The  green  waves  raved  round  the 
promontory  on  which  the  fort  stands,  smiting  the 
rocks,  breaking  into  snow,  and  jumping,  after 
impact,  to  a  height  of  a  hundred  feet  and  more  into 
the  air.  On  our  return  our  vehicle  broke  down 
through  the  loss  of  a  wheel.  The  Admiral  went  on 
board,  while  I  hung  long  over  the  agitated  sea. 
The   little   horses   of   Oran   well   merit   a   passing 


'870]  VOTAaE   TO   ALGERIA.  45£ 

word.  Their  speed  and  endurance,  which  are  both 
heavily  drawn  upon  by  their  drivers,  are  extra- 
ordinary. 

The  wind  sinking,  we  lifted  anchor  on  the  24th. 
For  some  hours  we  went  pleasantly  along ;  but 
during  the  afternoon  the  storm  revived,  and  it  blew 
heavily  against  us  all  the  night.  When  we  came 
opposite  the  Bay  of  Almeria,  on  the  25th,  the 
captain  turned  the  ship,  and  steered  into  the  bay, 
where,  under  the  shadow  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  we 
passed  Christmas  night  in  peace.  Next  morning 
'  a  rose  of  dawn'  rested  on  the  snows  of  the  adjacent 
mountains,  while  a  purple  haze  was  spread  over  the 
lower  hills.  I  had  no  notion  that  Spain  possessed 
so  fine  a  range  of  mountains  as  the  Sierra  Nevada. 
The  height  is  considerable,  but  the  form  also  is 
such  as  to  get  the  maximum  of  grandeur  out  of  the 
height.  "We  got  away  at  eight  a.m.,  passing  for  a 
time  through  shoal  water,  the  bottom  of  which  had 
been  evidently  stirred  up.  The  adjacent  land 
seemed  eroded  in  a  remarkable  manner.  Doubtless 
it  has  its  times  of  flood,  which  excavate  these 
valleys  and  ravines,  and  leave  those  singular  ridges 
behind.  Towards  evening  I  climbed  the  mainmast, 
and,  standing  on  the  crosstrees,  saw  the  sun  set 
amid  a  blaze  of  fiery  clouds.  The  wind  was  strong 
and  bitterly  cold,  and  I  was  glad  to  return  to 
the  deck   along  a  rope   which  stretched  from   the 


456  70YAGE   TO   ALGERIA.  [1871 

mast-head  to  the  ship's  side.     That  night  we  cast 
anchor  beside  the  Mole  of  Gibraltar. 

On  the  morning  of  the  27th,  in  company  with 
two  friends,  I  drove  to  the  Spanish  lines,  with  the 
view  of  seeing  the  rock  from  that  side.  It  is  an 
exceedingly  noble  mass.  The  Peninsular  and  Ori- 
ental mail-boat  had  been  signalled  and  had  come. 
Heavy  duties  called  me  homeward,  and  by  trans- 
ferring myself  from  the  '  Urgent '  to  the  mail- 
steamer  I  should  gain  three  days.  I  hired  a  boat, 
rowed  to  the  steamer,  learned  that  she  was  to  start 
at  one,  and  returned  with  all  speed  to  the  '  Urgent.' 
Making  known  to  Captain  Henderson  my  wish  to 
get  away,  he  expressed  doubts  as  to  the  possibility 
of  reaching  the  mail-steamer  in  time.  With  his 
accustomed  kindness,  he,  however,  placed  a  boat  at 
my  disposal.  Fom*  hardy  fellows  and  one  of  the 
ship's  officers  jumped  into  it ;  my  luggage,  hastily 
thrown  together,  was  tumbled  in  afterwards,  and  we 
were  immediately  on  our  way.  We  had  nearly  four 
miles  to  row  in  about  twenty  minutes ;  but  we 
hoped  the  mail-boat  might  not  be  punctual.  For  a 
time  we  watched  her  anxiously ;  there  was  no  motion ; 
we  came  nearer,  but  the  flags  were  not  yet  liauled 
in.  The  men  put  forth  all  their  strength,  animated 
by  the  exhortations  of  the  officer  at  the  helm.  The 
roughness  of  the  sea  rendered  their  effi)rts  to  some 
extent  nugatory :  still  we  were  rapidly  approacliing 


1870]  VOYAGE   TO    ALGERIA.  457 

the  steamer.  At  length  she  moved,  punctually 
almost  to  the  minute,  at  first  slowly,  but  soon  with 
quickened  pace.  We  turned  to  the  left,  so  as  to 
cut  across  her  bows.  Five  minutes'  pull  would  have 
brought  us  up  to  her.  The  officer  waved  his  cap 
and  I  my  hat.  'If  they  could  only  see  us,  they 
might  back  to  us  in  a  moment.'  But  they  did  not 
see  us,  or  if  they  did,  they  paid  no  attention  to  us. 
I  returned  to  the  '  Urgent,'  discomfited,  but  grateful 
to  the  fine  fellows  who  had  wrought  so  hard  to  carry 
out  my  wishes. 

Grlad  of  the  quiet,  in  the  sober  afternoon  I  took 
a  walk  towards  Europa  Point.  The  sky  darkened, 
and  heavy  squalls  passed  at  intervals.  Eain  began 
to  fall,  and  I  returned  home.  Private  theatricals 
were  at  the  Convent,  and  the  kind  and  courteous 
Governor  had  sent  cards  to  the  eclipse  party.  I 
failed  in  my  duty  in  not  going.  I  had  heard  of 
St.  Michael's  Cave  as  rivalling,  if  not  outrivalling, 
the  Mammoth  Cave  of  Kentucky.  On  the  28th 
Messrs.  Crookes,  Carpenter,  and  myself,  guided  by  a 
military  policeman  who  understood  his  work,  ex- 
plored the  cavern.  The  mouth  is  about  1,100  feet 
above  the  sea.  We  zigzagged  up  to  it,  and  first 
were  led  into  an  aperture  in  the  rock  some  height 
above  the  true  entrance  of  the  cave.  In  this  upper 
cavern  we  saw  some  tall  and  beautiful  stalactite 
pillars. 


458  VOYAGE   TO    ALGERIA.  [l«|« 

The  water  drips  from  the  roof  charged  with 
bicarbonate  of  lime.  Exposed  to  the  air,  the  car- 
bonic acid  partially  escapes,  and  the  simple  carbonate 
of  lime,  which  is  hardly  at  all  soluble  in  water, 
deposits  itself  as  a  solid,  forming  stalactites  and 
stalagmites.  Even  the  exposure  of  chalk  or  lime- 
stone water  to  the  open  air  partially  softens  it.  A 
specimen  of  the  Eedboume  water  exposed  by 
Messrs.  Grraham,  Miller,  and  Hofmann  in  a  shallow 
basin,  fell  from  eighteen  degrees  to  nine  degrees  of 
hardness.  The  softening  process  of  Clark  is  virtually 
a  hastening  of  the  natural  process.  Here,  however, 
instead  of  being  permitted  to  evaporate,  half  the 
carbonic  acid  is  appropriated  by  lime,  the  half  thus 
taken  up,  as  well  as  the  remaining  half,  being  pre- 
cipitated. The  solid  precipitate  is  permitted  to 
sink,  and  the  clear  supernatant  liquid  is  limpid  soft 
water. 

We  returned  to  the  real  mouth  of  St.  Michael's 
Cave,  which  is  entered  by  a  wicket.  The  floor  was 
somewhat  muddy,  and  the  roof  and  walls  were  wet. 
Our  guide  took  off  his  coat,  but  we  did  not  follow 
his  example.  We  were  soon  in  the  midst  of  a 
natural  temple,  where  tall  columns  sprang  complete 
from  floor  to  roof,  while  incipient  colmnns  were 
growing  to  meet  each  other,  upwards  and  downwards. 
The  water  which  trickles  from  the  stalactite,  after 
having  in  part  yielded  up  its  carbonate  of  lime,  falls 


870]  VOYAGE   TO    ALGERIA.  459 

upon  the  floor  vertically  underneath,  and  there 
builds  the  stalagmite.  Consequently,  the  pillars 
grow  from  above  and  below  simultaneously  along 
the  same  vertical.  It  is  easy  to  distinguish  the 
stalagmitic  from  the  stalactitic  portion  of  the 
pillars.  The  former  is  always  divided  into  short 
segments  by  protuberant  rings,  as  if  deposited 
periodically,  while  the  latter  presents  a  uniform 
surface.  In  some  cases  the  points  of  inverted  cones 
of  stalactite  rested  on  the  centres  of  pillars  of 
stalagmite.  The  process  of  solidification  and  the 
architecture  were  alike  beautiful. 

We  followed  our  guide  through  various  branches 
and  arms  of  the  cave,  climbed  and  descended  steps, 
halted  at  the  edges  of  dark  shafts  and  apertures, 
squeezed  ourselves  through  narrow  passages,  where 
the  sober  grey  of  my  coat  suffered  less  than  the  black 
of  my  companions'.  From  time  to  time  we  halted, 
while  Mr.  Crookes  illuminated  with  ignited  magne- 
sium wire  the  roof,  columns,  dependent  spears,  and 
graceful  drapery  of  the  stalactite.  Once,  coming  to 
a  magnificent  cluster  of  icicle-like  spears,  we  helped 
ourselves  to  specimens.  There  was  some  difficulty 
in  detaching  the  more  delicate  ones,  their  fragility 
was  so  great.  A  consciousness  of  vandalism  which 
smote  me  at  the  time  haunts  me  still ;  for,  though 
our  requisitions  were  moderate,  this  beauty  ought 
not  to  be  at  all  invaded.     Pendent  from  the  roof  in 


460  VOYAGE   TO   ALGERIA.  [1870 

their  natural   habitat,   nothing    can   exceed    their 

delicate  beauty;  they  live,  as  it  were,  surrounded 

by  organic  connections.    In  London  they  are  curious, 

but  not  beautiful.     Of    gathered   shells    Emersor. 

writes  : 

I  wiped  away  the  weeds  and  foam, 

And  brought  my  sea-born  treasures  home : 

But  the  poor,  unsightly,  noisome  things 

Had  left  their  beauty  on  the  shore, 

With  the  sun,  and  the  sand,  and  the  wild  uproar. 

The  promontory  of  Gibraltar  is  so  biuTOwed  with 
caverns  that  it  has  been  called  the  Hill  of  Caves. 
They  are  apparently  related  to  the  geologic  disturb- 
ances which  the  rock  has  undergone.  The  earliest 
of  these  is  the  tilting  of  the  once  horizontal  strata. 
Suppose  a  force  acting  upon  the  promontory  at  its 
southern  extremity,  near  Europa  Point,  tending  to 
twist  the  strata  in  a  direction  opposed  to  that  of  the 
hands  of  a  watch,  and  suppose  the  rock  to  be  of  a 
partially  yielding  character,  such  a  force  would  turn 
the  strata  into  screw-surfaces,  the  greatest  amount  of 
twisting  being  endured  near  the  point  of  application 
of  the  force.  Such  a  twisting  the  rock  appears  to 
have  suffered ;  but  instead  of  the  twist  fading  gra- 
dually and  uniformly  off  in  passing  from  south  to 
north,  the  want  of  uniformity  in  the  material  has 
produced  lines  of  dislocation  where  there  are  abrupt 
changes  in  the  amount  of  twist.  Thus,  at  the 
northern  end  of  the   rock   the  dip  to  the  west  is 


\870]  VOYAGE  TO   ALGERIA  461 

nineteen  degrees ;  in  the  middle  hill  it  is  thirty- 
eight  degrees ;  in  the  centre  of  the  south  hill,  or 
Sugar  Loaf,  it  is  fifty-seven  degrees.  At  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  Sugar  Loaf  the  strata  are  vertical, 
while  further  to  the  south  they  actually  turn  over 
and  dip  to  the  east. 

The  rock  is  thus  divided  into  three  sections,  sepa- 
rated from  each  other  by  surfaces  of  dislocation, 
where  the  rock  is  much  wrenched  and  broken. 
These  places  of  dislocation  are  called  the  Northern 
and  Southern  Quebrada,  from  the  Spanish  '  Tierra 
Quebrada,'  or  broken  ground ;  and  it  is  at  these 
places  that  the  inland  caves  of  Gibraltar  are  almost 
exclusively  found.  Based  on  the  observations  of 
Dr.  Falconer  and  himself,  an  excellent  and  most 
interesting  account  of  these  caves,  and  of  the  human 
remains  and  works  of  art  which  they  contain,  was 
given  by  Mr.  Busk  at  the  meeting  of  the  Congress 
of  Prehistoric  Archaeology  at  Norwich,  and  after- 
wards printed  in  the  '  Transactions '  of  the  Congress.' 
Long  subsequently  to  the  operation  of  the  twisting 
force  just  referred  to,  the  promontory  underwent 
various  changes  of  level.  There  are  sea-terraces  and 
layers  of  shell-breccia  along  its  flanks,  and  numerous 
caves  which,  unlike  the  inland  one,  are  the  product 

'  In  this  essay  Mr.  Busk  refers  to  the  previous  laLoiirs  of  Mr. 
Smith,  of  Jordan  Hill,  to  -whom  we  owe  most  of  our  knowledge  of 
the  geology  of  the  rock. 


462  TOYAGE  TO   ALGERIA.  [1870 

of  marine  erosion.  The  Apes'  Hill,  on  the  African 
side  of  the  strait,  Mr.  Busk  informs  me  has  under- 
gone similar  disturbances.' 

In  the  harbour  of  Gibraltar,  on  the  morning  of 
our  departure,  I  resumed  a  series  of  observations 
on  the  colour  of  the  sea.  On  my  way  out  I  had 
collected  a  munber  of  specimens,  with  a  view  to 
subsequent  examination.  But  the  bottles  were  claret 
bottles,  and  I  could  by  no  means  feel  sure  of  their 
purity.  At  Gibraltar,  therefore,  I  purchased  fifteen 
white  glass  bottles,  with  ground  glass  stoppers,  and 
at  Cadiz,  thanks  to  the  friendly  guidance  of  Mr. 
Cameron,  I  secured  a  dozen  more.  These  seven-and- 
twenty  bottles  were  filled  with  water,  taken  at 
different  places  between  Oran  and  Spithead. 

And  here  let  me  express  my  warmest  acknowledg- 
ments to  Captain  Henderson,  the  commander  of 
H.M.S.  '  Urgent,'  who  aided  me  in  my  obser- 
vations in  every  possible  way.  Indeed,  my  best 
thanks  are  due  to  all  the  officers  for  their  unfail- 
ing courtesy  and  help.  The  captain  placed  at  my 
disposal  his  own  coxswain,  an  intelligent  fellow 
named  Thorogood,  who  skilfully  attached  a  cord  to 
each  bottle,  weighted  it  with  lead,  cast  it  into  the  sea, 

•  No  one  can  rise  from  the  perusal  of  Mr.  Busk's  paper  without  a 
feeling  of  admiration  for  the  principal  discoverer  and  indefatigable 
sxploror  of  the  Gibraltar  caves,  the  hitc  Captain  Frederick  Brome. 


1870]  YOYAGE   TO   ALGERIA.  463 

and,  after  three  successive  rinsings,  filled  it  under  my 
own  eyes.  The  contact  of  jugs,  buckets,  or  other 
vessels  was  thus  avoided,  and  even  the  necessity  of 
pouring  the  water  out  afterwards  through  the  dirty 
London  air. 

The  mode  of  examination  applied  to  these  bottles 
after  my  return  to  London  is  in  some  sense  comple- 
mentary to  that  of  the  microscope,  and  may  I  think 
materially  aid  enquiries  conducted  with  that  instru- 
ment. In  microscopic  examination  attention  is 
directed  to  a  small  portion  of  the  liquid,  the  aim 
being  to  detect  the  individual  suspended  particles. 
In  my  case,  a  large  portion  of  the  liquid  is  illumi- 
nated by  a  powerfully  condensed  beam,  its  general 
condition  being  revealed  through  the  light  scattered 
by  suspended  particles.  Care  is  taken  to  defend  the 
eye  from  the  access  of  all  other  light,  and,  thus  de- 
fended, it  becomes  an  organ  of  inconceivable  deli- 
cacy. Were  water  of  uniform  density  perfectly  free 
from  suspended  matter,  it  would,  in  my  opinion, 
scatter  no  light  at  all.  The  track  of  a  luminous 
beam  could  not,  I  think,  be  seen  in  such  water.  But 
an  amount  of  impurity  so  infinitesimal  as  to  be 
scarcely  expressible  in  numbers,  and  the  individual 
particles  of  which  are  so  small  as  wholly  to  elude  the 
microscope,  may,  when  examined  by  the  method 
alluded  to,  produce  not  only  sensible,  but  striking, 
effects  upon  the  eye. 


164 


VOYAGE   TO    ALGEKIA. 


[1870 


The  results  of  the  e-samination  of  nineteen  bottles, 
filled  at  various  places  between  Gibraltar  and 
Spithead,  are  here  tabulated  : 


No. 

Locality 

Colour  of  Sea 

Appearance  in  Electric  Beam 

1 

Gibraltar  Harbour .    .    . 

Green .    .    . 

Thick  with  fine  particles 

2 

Two  miles  from  Gibraltar 

Clearer  green 

Thick  with  very  fine  particles 

3 

Off  Cabreta  Point  .    .    . 

Bright  green 

Still  thick,  but  less  so 

4 

Off  Cabreta  Point  .    .    . 

Black-indigo 

Much  less  thick,  very  pure 

6 
6 

Off  Tarifa 

Undecided    . 
Cobalt-blue  . 

Thicker  than  No.  4 
Much  purer  than  No.  5 

Beyond  Tarifa    .... 

7 

Twelve  miles  from  Cadiz 

Yellow-green 

Very  thick 

8 

Cadiz  Harbour  .... 

Yellow-green 

Exceedingly  thick 

9 

Fourteen  milesfrom  Cadiz 

Yellow-grcen 

Thick,  but  less  so 

10 

Fourteen  miles  from  Cadiz 

Bright  green 

Much  less  thick 

11 

Between  Capes  St.  Mary 

and  Vincent .... 

Deep  indigo . 

Very  little  matter,  very  pure 

12 

Off  the  Burlings     . 

Strong  green 

Thick  with  fine  matter 

13 

Beyond  the  Burlings 

Indigo      .    . 

Very  little  matter,  pure 

14 

Off  Ccpe  Fiiiisterre 

Undecided    . 

Less  pure 

15 

Bay  of  Biscay    .    . 

Black-indigo 

Very  little  matter,  very  pure 

16 

Bay  of  Biscay    .    . 

Indigo     .    . 

Very  fine  ma' ter.   Iridescent 

17 

Off  Ushant     .    .     . 

Dark  green  . 

A  good  deal  of  matter 

18 

Off  St.  Catherine's  . 

Yellow-green 

Exceedingly  thick 

19 

Spithead    .... 

Green  .    .    . 

Exceedingly  thick 

Here,  in  the  first  instance,  we  have  three  speci- 
mens of  water,  described  as  green,  a  clearer  green, 
and  bright  green,  taken  in  Gibraltar  Harbour,  at  a 
point  two  miles  from  the  harbour,  and  off  Cabreta 
Point.  The  home  examination  showed  that  the 
first  was  thick  with  suspended  matter,  the  second 
less  thick,  and  the  third  still  ^ess  thick.  Tluia 
the  green  brightened  as  the  suspended  matter  be- 
came less. 

Previous  to  the  fourth  observation  our  excellent 
navigating  lieutenant,  Mr.  Brown,  steered  along 
the  coast,  thus  avoiding  the  adverse  current  which 
Beta  in  through  the   Strait  of  Gibraltar  from  the 


I87«]  VOYAGE   TO   ALGERIA.  465 

Atlantic  to  the  Mediterranean.  He  was  at  length 
forced  to  cross  the  boundary  of  the  Atlantic  current, 
which  was  defined  with  extraordinary  sharpness.  On 
the  one  side  of  it  the  water  was  a  vivid  green,  on  the 
other  a  deep  blue.  Standing  at  the  bow  of  the  ship, 
a  bottle  could  be  filled  with  blue  water,  while  at  the 
same  moment  a  bottle  cast  from  the  stern  could  be 
filled  with  bright  green  water.  Two  bottles  were 
secured,  one  on  each  side  of  this  remarkable  boun- 
dary. In  the  distance  the  Atlantic  had  the  hue 
called  ultramarine ;  but  looked  fairly  down  upon,  it 
was  of  almost  inky  blackness — black  qualified  by  a 
trace  of  indigo. 

What  change  does  the  home  examination  here 
reveal?  In  passing  to  indigo,  the  water  becomes 
suddenly  augmented  in  purity,  the  suspended  matter 
has  become  suddenly  less.  Off  Tarifa,  the  deep 
indigo  disappears,  and  the  sea  is  undecided  in  colour. 
Accompanying  this  change,  we  have  a  rise  in  the 
quantity  of  suspended  matter.  Beyond  Tarifa,  we 
change  to  cobalt-blue,  the  suspended  matter  falling 
at  the  same  time  in  quantity.  This  water  is  dis- 
tinctly purer  than  the  green.  We  approach  Cadiz, 
and  at  twelve  miles  from  the  city  get  into  yellow- 
green  water ;  this  the  London  examination  shows  to 
be  thick  with  suspended  matter.  The  same  is  true 
of  Cadiz  Harbour,  and  also  of  a  point  fourteen  miles 
from  Cadiz  in  the  homeward  direction.     Here  there 


4:66  VOYAGE   TO    ALGERIA.  [1870 

Is  a  sudden  change  from  yellow-green  to  a  bright 
emerald-green,  and  accompanying  the  change  a 
Budden  fall  in  the  quantity  of  suspended  matter. 
Between  Cape  St.  Mary  and  Cape  St.  Vincent  the 
water  changes  to  the  deepest  indigo.  In  point  of 
purity,  this  indigo  water  is  shown  by  the  home  exa- 
mination to  transcend  the  emerald-green  water. 

We  now  reach  the  remarkable  group  of  rocks 
called  the  Bm-lings,  and  find  the  water  between  the 
shore  and  the  rocks  a  strong  green  ;  the  home  exami- 
nation shows  it  to  be  thick  with  fine  matter.  Fifteen 
or  twenty  miles  beyond  the  Burlings  we  come  again 
into  indigo  water,  from  which  the  suspended  matter 
has  in  great  part  disappeared.  Off  Cape  Finisterre, 
about  the  place  where  the  '  Captain '  went  down,  the 
water  becomes  green,  and  the  home  examination 
pronounces  it  to  be  thicker.  Then  we  enter  the  Bay 
of  Biscay,  where  the  indigo  resumes  its  power,  and 
where  the  home  examination  shows  the  greatly  aug- 
mented purity  of  the  water.  A  second  specimen  of 
water  taken  from  the  Bay  of  Biscay  held  in  suspen- 
sion fine  particles  of  a  peculiar  kind ;  the  size  of  them 
was  such  as  to  render  the  water  richly  iridescent.  It 
showed  itself  green,  blue,  or  salmon  colour,  accord- 
ing to  the  direction  of  the  line  of  vision.  Finally, 
we  come  to  our  last  two  bottles,  the  one  taken  oppo- 
site St.  Catherine's  lighthouse,  in  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
the  other  at  Spithead.     The  sea  at  both  these  places 


1870]  TOYAGE   TO    ALGERIA.  467 

was  green,  and  both  specimens,  as  might  be  expected, 
were  pronounced  by  the  home  examination  to  be 
thick  -with  suspended  matter. 

Two  distinct  series  of  observations  are  here  re- 
ferred to — the  one  consisting  of  direct  observations 
of  the  colour  of  the  sea,  conducted  during  the 
voyage  from  Gibraltar  to  Portsmouth ;  the  other 
conducted  in  the  laboratory  of  the  Eoyal  Institu- 
tion. And  here  it  is  to  be  noted  that  in  the  home 
examination  I  never  knew  what  water  I  had  in  my 
hands.  The  labels,  which  had  written  upon  them 
the  names  of  the  localities,  had  been  tied  up,  all 
information  regarding  the  source  of  the  water  being 
thus  precluded.  The  bottles  were  simply  numbered, 
and  not  till  all  the  waters  had  been  examined  were 
the  labels  opened,  and  the  locality  and  sea-colour 
corresponding  to  the  various  specimens  ascertained. 
I  must,  therefore,  have  been  perfectly  unbiassed  in 
my  home  observations,  and  they,  I  think,  clearly 
establish  the  association  of  the  green  colour  of  sea- 
water  with  fine  suspended  matter,  and  the  association 
of  the  ultramarine  colour,  and  more  especially  of 
the  black-indigo  hue  of  sea-water,  with  the  com- 
parative absence  of  such  matter. 

What,  in  the  first  place,  is  the  cause  of  the  dark 
hue  of  the  deep  ocean  ?  '     A  preliminary  remark  or 

'  A  note,  ■written  to  me  on  October  22,  by  my  friend  Canon 
Kingsley,  contains  the  following  reference  to  this  point:  'I  hav« 


468  VOYAGE    TO    ALGERIA.  [1870 

two  will  clear  our  way  towards  an  explanation. 
Colour  resides  in  white  liglit,  appearing  generally 
when  any  constituent  of  the  white  light  is  with- 
drawn. The  hue  of  a  purple  liquid,  for  example, 
IS  immediately  accounted  for  by  its  action  on  a 
spectrum.  It  cuts  out  the  yellow  and  green,  and 
allows  the  red  and  blue  to  pass  through.  The 
blending  of  these  two  colours  produces  the  purple. 
But  while  the  liquid  attacks  with  special  energy  the 
yellow  and  green  colours,  it  enfeebles  the  whole 
spectrum ;  and  by  increasing  the  thickness  of  the 
stratum  we  absorb  the  whole  of  the  light.  The 
colour  of  a  blue  liquid  is  similarly  accounted  for. 
It  first  extinguishes  the  red  ;  then,  as  the  thickness 
augments,  it  attacks  the  orange,  yellow,  and  green 
in  succession ;  the  blue  alone  finally  remaining. 
But  even  it  might  be  extinguished  by  a  sufficient 
depth  of  liquid. 

And  now  we  are  prepared  for  a  brief,  but  tolerably 
complete,  statement  of  the  action  of  sea-water  upon 
light,  to  which  it  owes  its  darkness.  The  spectrum 
embraces  three  classes  of  rays — the  thermal,  the 
visual,  and  the  chemical.  These  divisions  overlap 
each  other  ;  the  thermal  rays  are  in  part  visual,  the 

never  seen  the  Lake  of  Geneva,  but  I  thought  of  the  brilliant  tlazzling 
dark  blue  of  the  mid-Atlantic  under  the  sunlight,  and  its  black-blue 
under  cloud,  both  so  solid  that  one  might  leap  off  the  sponson  on  to 
it  without  fear ;  this  was  to  me  the  most  wonderful  thing  which  T 
B»v  on  my  voyages  to  and  from  the  West  Indies.' 


i8;0]  TOTAGE   TO    ALGERIA.  '  46S 

visual  rays  in  part  chemical,  and  vice  versa.  The 
vast  body  of  thermal  rays  is  beyond  the  red,  being 
invisible.  These  rays  are  attacked  with  exceeding 
energy  by  water.  They  are  absorbed  close  to  the 
surface  of  the  sea,  and  are  the  great  agents  in 
evaporation.  At  the  same  time  the  whole  spectrum 
suffers  enfeeblement ;  water  attacks  all  its  rays,  but 
with  different  degrees  of  energy.  Of  the  visual  rays, 
the  red  are  attacked  first,  and  first  extinguished. 
While  the  red  is  disappearing  the  remaining  colours 
are  enfeebled.  As  the  solar  beam  plunges  deeper  into 
tlie  sea,  orange  follows  red,  yellow  follows  orange, 
green  follows  yellow,  and  the  various  shades  of  blue, 
where  the  water  is  deep  enough,  follow  green 
Absolute  extinction  of  the  solar  beam  would  be  the 
consequence  if  the  water  were  deep  and  uniform  ; 
and  if  it  contained  no  suspended  matter,  such 
water  would  be  as  black  as  ink.  A  reflected  glim- 
mer of  ordinary  light  would  reach  us  from  its  sur- 
face, as  it  would  from  the  surface  of  actual  ink ;  but 
no  light,  hence  no  colour,  would  reach  us  froir. 
the  body  of  the  water. 

In  very  clear  and  very  deep  sea-water  this  con- 
dition is  approximately  fulfilled,  and  hence  the 
extraordinary  darkness  of  such  water.  The  indigo, 
to  which  I  have  already  referred,  is,  I  believe,  to  be 
ascribed  in  part  to  the  suspended  matter,  which  is 
never  absent,  even  in  the  purest  natural  water,  and 

21 


470  VOYAGE   TO    ALGERIA.  [1870 

in  part  to  the  slight  reflection  of  the  light  from  the 
limiting  surfaces  of  strata  of  dififerent  densities.  A 
modicum  of  light  is  thus  thrown  back  to  the  eye 
before  the  depth  necessary  to  absolute  extinction 
has  been  attained.  An  effect  precisely  similar  occurs 
under  the  moraines  of  the  Swiss  glaciers.  The  ice 
here  is  exceptionally  compact,  and,  owing  to  the 
absence  of  the  internal  scattering  common  in  bubbled 
ice,  the  light  plunges  into  the  mass,  is  extinguished, 
and  the  perfectly  clear  ice  presents  an  appearance  of 
pitchy  blackness.' 

The  green  colour  of  the  sea  when  it  contains 
matter  in  a  state  of  mechanical  suspension  has  now 
to  be  accounted  for,  and  here,  again,  let  us  fall  back 
upon  the  sure  basis  of  experiment.  A  strong  white 
dinner-plate  was  surrounded  securely  by  cord,  and 
had  a  lead  weight  fastened  to  it.  Fifty  or  sixty 
yards  of  strong  hempen  line  were  attached  to  the 
plate.  With  it  in  his  hand,  my  assistant,  Thorogood, 
occupied  a  boat  fastened  as  usual  to  the  davits  of 
the  '  Urgent,'  while  I  occupied  a  second  boat  nearer 
to  the  stern  of  the  ship.  He  cast  the  plate  as  a 
mariner  heaves  the  lead,  and  by  the  time  it  had 
reached  me  it  had  sunk  a  considerable  depth  in  the 
water.  In  all  cases  the  hue  of  this  plate  was  green  : 
even  when  the  sea  was  of  the  darkest  indigo,  the 

'  I  learn  from  a  correspondent  that  certain  Welsh  tarns,  whiofi 
are  reputed  bottomless,  have  this  inky  hue. 


1870J  VOYAGE   TO    ALGEEIA.  471 

green  was  vivid  and  pronounced.  I  could  notice 
the  gradual  deepening  of  the  colour  as  the  plate 
sank,  but  at  its  greatest  depth  in  indigo  water  the 
colour  was  still  a  blue-green.' 

Other  observations  confirmed  this  one.  The 
'  Urgent '  is  a  screw  steamer,  and  right  over  the 
blades  of  the  screw  was  an  orifice  called  the  screw- 
well,  through  which  one  could  look  from  the  poop 
down  upon  the  screw.  The  surface  glimmer  which 
so  pesters  the  eye  was  here  in  a  great  measure 
removed.  Midway  down  a  plank  crossed  the  screw- 
well  from  side  to  side,  and  on  this  I  used  to  place 
myself  to  observe  the  action  of  the  screw  underneath. 
The  eye  was  rendered  sensitive  by  the  moderation 
of  the  light,  and,  still  further  to  remove  all  dis- 
turbing causes.  Lieutenant  Walton  had  a  sail  and 
tarpaulin  thrown  over  the  mouth  of  the  well. 
Underneath  this  I  perched  myself  and  watched  the 
screw.  In  an  indigo  sea  the  play  of  colour  was 
indescribably  beautiful,  and  the  contrast  between 
the  water  which  had  the  screw-blades  for  a  back- 
ground, and  that  which  had  the  bottom  of  the  ocean 
as  a  background,  was  extraordinary.  The  one  was 
of  the  most  brilliant  green,  the  other  of  the  deepest 
ultramarine.  The  surface  of  the  water  above  the 
screw-blade    was    always    ruffled.      Liquid    lenses 

'  In  no  case,  of  course,  is  the  green  pure,  but  a  mixtrre  of  green 
and  blue. 


472  VOYAGE   TO    ALGERIA.  [1870 

were  thus  formed,  by  which  the  coloured  light  was 
withdrawn  from  some  places  and  concentrated  upon 
others,  the  colour  being  thus  caused  to  flash  with 
metallic  lustre.  The  screw-blades  in  this  case 
played  the  part  of  the  plate  in  the  former  case, 
and  there  were  other  instances  of  a  similar  kind. 
The  white  bellies  of  the  porpoises  showed  the  green 
hue,  varying  in  intensity  as  the  creatures  swung  to 
and  fro  between  the  surface  and  the  deeper  water. 
Foam,  at  a  certain  depth  below  the  surface,  is  also 
green.  In  a  rough  sea  the  light  which  has  pene- 
trated the  summit  of  a  wave  sometimes  reaches  the 
eye,  a  beautiful  green  cap  being  thus  placed  upon 
the  wave  even  in  indigo  water. 

But  how  is  this  colour  to  be  connected  philo- 
sophically with  the  suspended  particles  ?  Take  the 
dinner-plate  which  showed  so  brilliant  a  green  when 
thrown  into  indigo  water.  Suppose  it  to  diminish 
in  size  until  it  reaches  an  almost  microscopic  mag- 
nitude. It  would  still  behave  substantially  as  the 
larger  plate,  sending  to  the  eye  its  modicum  of  green 
light.  If  the  plate,  instead  of  being  a  large  coherent 
mass,  were  ground  to  a  powder  sufficiently  fine,  and 
in  this  condition  diffused  through  the  clear  sea-water, 
it  would  send  green  light  to  the  eye.  In  fact,  tlie 
suspended  particles  whicli  the  homo  examination 
reveals  act  in  all  essential  particulars  like  the  plate, 
or  like  the  screw-blades,  or  like  the  foam,  or  like 


S870]  TOY  AGE   TO   ALGERIA.  473 

the  bellies  of  the  porpoises.  Thus  I  think  the 
greenness  of  the  sea  is  physically  connected  with  the 
matter  which  it  holds  in  suspension. 

We  reached  Portsmouth  on  the  5th  of  January 
1871.  There  ended  a  voyage  which,  though  its  main 
object  was  not  realised,  has  left  behind  it  pleasant 
memories,  both  of  the  aspects  of  nature  and  the 
genial  kindliness  of  men. 


7U22 


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